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☆ GM's BrightDrop signs first customer in Canada, unveils country's first large EV factory
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Lisa Baertlein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Carlos OsorioDec 5 (Reuters) - The first electric delivery trucks rolled off production lines at BrightDrop's new factory in Canada on Monday, when the upstart unit of General Motors Co (GM.N) also announced DHL Express Canada (DPWGn.DE) as its first customer outside the United States. GM spent seven months and more than $2 billion transforming its 2 million-square-foot CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, into Canada's first large-scale electric vehicle (EV) factory for BrightDrop Zevo delivery trucks. It already has delivered 150 electric trucks to package carrier FedEx Corp (FDX.N). Those companies and many others have set goals to replace gas-burning delivery trucks and service vehicles with zero-emissions alternatives over time. DHL Express Canada's new relationship with BrightDrop "will help bring us closer to that target," CEO Andrew Williams said.

☆ U.S. railroad investor resolutions urge paid sick leave for workers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Ross Kerber | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 5 (Reuters) - Investors have proposed shareholder resolutions at two U.S. railroads calling for paid sick leave for workers, an issue that nearly caused a national rail strike, and they could go to an advisory vote at shareholder meetings in the spring. But the deal he approved did not include paid sick days for workers, a key sticking point for unions in contract talks with five major U.S. railroads. read moreProposals seen by Reuters filed by activist investors ask Norfolk Southern Corp (NSC.N) and Union Pacific Corp (UNP.N) to offer "a reasonable amount" of paid sick time, determined by company directors. Kate Monahan, a director at Trillium Asset Management, the socially minded investor that filed the resolution at Union Pacific, said more flexible sick time would have broader benefits like reducing workforce turnover. Railroads worry implementing paid sick leave would require more employees at a time when many have cut their workforces dramatically.

Pelosi said the House would vote separately on Wednesday on a proposal to give seven days of paid sick leave to railroad employees. There are no paid sick days under the tentative deal after unions asked for 15 and railroads settled on one personal day. "Guaranteeing 7 paid sick days to rail workers would cost the rail industry a grand total of $321 million a year – less than 2% of its profits," Sanders said. The railroads oppose giving their workers paid sick time because they would have to hire more staff. "I can’t in good conscience vote for a bill that doesn’t give rail workers the paid leave they deserve," Representative Jamaal Bowman, a Democrat, said on Twitter.

WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives plans to vote Wednesday to block a potential a U.S. rail strike after President Joe Biden warned of the dire economic consequences of a rail disruption that could happen as early as Dec. 9. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said lawmakers will vote Wednesday to impose a tentative contract deal struck in September. At a White House meeting Tuesday with congressional leaders, the Democratic president was asked if he was confident he could avert a rail strike, and responded, "I am confident." Labor unions have criticized the railroads’ sick leave and attendance policies and the lack of paid sick days for short-term illness. There are no paid sick days under the tentative deal.

☆ U.S. Chamber of Commerce calls on Congress to settle rail labor dispute
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Suzanne Clark implored federal lawmakers to step in one day after members of the country's biggest railroad union rejected a tentative agreement brokered by a board appointed by President Joe Biden. "Congress must now impose the deal President Biden negotiated, and the railroads and union leadership agreed to," Clark said. Biden's Presidential Emergency Board in August released the framework for the tentative deal forged between major carriers like Union Pacific (UNP.N) and a dozen unions representing 115,000 workers. If they do not, workers could strike and railroads could lock out employees - unless Congress intervenes. "If Congress fails to do so, a rail strike would substantially exacerbate inflation and the economic challenges Americans are facing today," she said.

"There's a lot of anger about paid sick leave among the membership" who kept goods flowing during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Seth Harris, a professor at Northeastern University. Labor unions have criticized the railroads' sick leave and attendance policies and the lack of paid sick days for short-term illness. There are no paid sick days under the tentative deal. Unions asked for 15 paid sick days and the railroads settled on one personal day. Railroads have slashed labor and other costs to bolster profits and are fiercely opposed to adding paid sick time that would require them to hire more staff.

Train and engine service members of the transportation division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD) narrowly voted to reject the deal. Three other unions that rejected the deal have already agreed to extend a strike deadline until early December. Labor unions have criticized the railroads’ sick leave and attendance policies and the lack of paid sick days for short-term illness. Beginning on Dec. 9, SMART-TD would be allowed to go on strike or the rail carriers would be permitted to lock out workers, unless Congress intervenes. The Biden administration helped avert a service cutoff by hosting last-minute contract talks in September at the Labor Department that led to a tentative contract deal.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the transportation division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD) -- representing about half of all unionized rail employees are set to report results. The standoff between U.S. railroad operators and their union workers disrupted flows of hazardous materials such as chemicals used in fertilizer and disrupted U.S. passenger railroad Amtrak service in September. The Biden administration helped avert a service cutoff by hosting last-minute contract talks in September at the Labor Department that led to a tentative contract deal. The unions represent 115,000 workers at railroads, including Union Pacific (UNP.N), Berkshire Hathaway Inc's (BRKa.N) BNSF, CSX (CSX.O), Norfolk Southern (NSC.N) and Kansas City Southern. Labor unions have criticized the railroads’ sick leave and attendance policies and the lack of paid sick days for short-term illness.

☆ Port of Los Angeles October imports tumble, pressured by labor worries
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Lisa Baertlein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Stacked containers and cranes are shown at the Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California, U.S. November 22, 2021. Seaports like New York/New Jersey, Savannah and Houston have benefited from the uncertainty surrounding ongoing West Coast port labor talks and continue to report robust results. The biggest drag was from incoming "cargo that has shifted to the East and Gulf Coasts due to protracted labor negotiations" between West Coast port workers and their employers, Seroka said. Year-to-date volume is down almost 6% versus 2021, when Los Angeles port volume hit an all-time annual high. Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ FedEx's freight unit to furlough workers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 14 (Reuters) - FedEx Corp's (FDX.N) freight division is furloughing employees in some U.S. markets as current business conditions are hurting its volumes, the package-delivery company said on Monday. The move comes barely a week after the Memphis, Tennessee-based company warned of lower-than-expected delivery volumes in the United States as the pandemic-driven e-commerce bubble deflates. read moreThe company "will continue to evaluate the environment and bring back furloughed employees as business circumstances allow," FedEx said in an emailed statement. Some eligible employees will be offered permanent transfer opportunities to other markets that have hiring needs, it added. FedEx Freight will maintain health benefits and provide other financial incentives for furloughed employees, the company said.

☆ UPS beats profit estimates on higher parcel delivery prices
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 25 (Reuters) - United Parcel Service Inc (UPS.N) on Tuesday reported a stronger-than-expected quarterly adjusted profit and reaffirmed its full-year forecast as higher delivery prices helped offset softening e-commerce demand. Delivery firms such as UPS and FedEx Corp (FDX.N) have banked on higher-paying small businesses and enterprise customers to drive volumes and earnings in the wake of falling e-commerce demand and receding domestic volumes. Atlanta based UPS' shares were up about 1% in premarket trade as the company reaffirmed its full-year revenue forecast of about $102 billion and adjusted operating margin of around 13.7%. The world's largest parcel delivery firm's quarterly revenue of $24.2 billion missed analysts' estimates of $24.3 billion, as consolidated average daily package volumes declined 2.1% to 22.9 million in the quarter. UPS adjusted third-quarter profit rose to $2.99 per share beating Wall Street estimates of $2.84 per share.

Oct 24 (Reuters) - United Parcel Service (UPS.N) investors want to see this week how the delivery giant is managing through the bursting e-commerce delivery bubble better than rival FedEx (FDX.N). Shares in UPS are down roughly 20% so far this year, versus the 40% decline in FedEx stock. At the same time, the UPS sales team has been working to drum up new business. Lego, the $7.3 billion Danish maker of colorful plastic bricks used to build everything from UPS delivery trucks to Hogwarts Castle of Harry Potter fame, switched from FedEx to UPS, according to the sources, who asked not to be identified. Global air and ocean import cargo volumes, a gauge of demand for logistics companies like UPS and FedEx, are slumping.

☆ U.S. container imports tumble as supply stress gives way to slack
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Lisa Baertlein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LOS ANGELES, Oct 20 (Reuters) - After more than two years of surging demand, the volume of container imports coming through U.S. ports has tumbled sharply, raising questions about where a sector once tracked as a supply-chain stress point will hit bottom. Container import volumes across all U.S. ports hit an all-time high in May and pulled back slightly before plunging in August and September. Volume surged as much as 40% from 2019 levels during the pandemic as retailers raced to meet soaring demand for goods. As recently as March, the Biden administration supply chain task force had tracked container imports as part of a "dashboard" to monitor the distress in the distribution of goods and a contributor to higher prices. Kemmsies said the August and September pullbacks in the volume of container imports is the result of retailers like Walmart (WMT.N) and Amazon.com (AMZN.O) cancelling billions of dollars of orders earlier this year.

☆ FedEx's reduced holiday forecast no surprise to skeptical contractors
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Lisa Baertlein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Bush has delivered packages for FedEx Ground for 15 years, and in that time, he said, "they haven't had accurate projections." The updated holiday forecast will help ensure that contractors have appropriate resources for the peak delivery season while minimizing preparation costs, FedEx said in a statement. More than half the 20 contractors who spoke with Reuters for this story were not planning to bulk up operations to meet the company's original holiday forecast. Their previously unreported silent work action shows the distrust many Ground contractors have in company leadership. Last year, FedEx's overly bullish holiday forecast left many contractors with losses after they geared up with trucks and employees for a surge that failed to materialize.

☆ Rideshare, retailers brace for tough U.S. independent contractor rule
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Nandita Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Broadly defining independent contractors as employees would also force companies to pay benefits, such as overtime pay and health benefits, that would hurt their bottom line. Employers can save about 30 percent by skipping payroll taxes and unemployment and benefit costs, workers' groups estimate. The meetings at the White House were one-sided, with officials at OIRA letting groups speak and not participating or asking follow-up questions, several employer sources said. A White House official said that listening without comment is part of the standard rulemaking process at OIRA. WORKERS WARN OF GROWING PAINGig Workers Rising, RideShare Workers United, Mobile Workers Alliance, We Drive Progress also met White House officials to broaden the definition of employee further, according to records and sources.

☆ Analysis: FedEx investors frustrated with new CEO after withdrawn forecast
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Lisa Baertlein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A FedEx Ground truck drives near a FedEx regional hub at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, California, U.S., September 16, 2022. Investors, already frustrated by last year's overly optimistic estimate for the holiday shopping season, were disappointed with its profit warning on Sept. 15. Reuters spoke with Bradshaw and five other investors who bought FedEx stock when it looked cheap versus its more profitable and better performing rival United Parcel Service (UPS.N), believing a FedEx business revamp promised healthy returns. FedEx warned business conditions would worsen in the current quarter, which ends as the key Christmas package delivery season begins. Late last month, FedEx told Reuters it was confident in its "stress tested" holiday forecast for this year.

☆ 2022's holiday delivery challenge: softening e-commerce demand
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Lisa Baertlein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Online sales started fizzling during last year's peak delivery season from Thanksgiving weekend through the end of the year. That could outpace peak season demand by 18 million packages per day, according to Satish Jindel, a consultant whose holiday peak volume forecasts are closely watched by delivery firms. During the 2020 and 2021 holiday peak delivery seasons, demand outstripped capacity by 7.2 million and 1.3 million packages per day, respectively, Jindel said. FedEx overestimated holiday demand last year, and many Ground delivery contractors got stuck with bills for hiring workers and renting trucks they did not need. read moreUPS is sticking with its plan to hire more than 100,000 holiday workers, the same as last year, a spokesman said.

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