Released: March 1, 2004

Teamsters Go Public in Support of Kerry
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John F. Kerry, D.-Mass. had more than a primary victory to celebrate in Wisconsin last week. He won the backing of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and 18 other unions in the Alliance for Economic Justice. That labor endorsement came despite Kerry's support for NAFTA attacked by unions for years. The Teamsters initially endorsed Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., who campaigned on an anti-free-trade platform but later dropped out of the race after his message failed to win votes. The endorsement was announced by Teamsters President James P. "Jimmy" Hoffa in Milwaukee, Wis., the day following Kerry's Wisconsin primary win.

"Working families need a fighter like John Kerry in the White House," Hoffa said, as quoted in a recent article in Traffic World magazine. "With a President Kerry, we will develop a pro-worker agenda and defeat President Bush's assault on America's jobs and America's working families."

Diesel Prices Continue to Rise to Highest Level This Year
The U.S. national average retail price of diesel fuel once again rose, by another two cents, to $1.619 per gallon, the highest price since March 31, the Department of Energy reported to NASSTRAC on today. The East Coast, the lower Atlantic states, the Midwest, the Gulf Coast, the Rocky Mountain states, and the West Coast all saw modest increases. As a service to members, NASSTRAC also provides weekly fuel pricing by region.
Click here to review the DOE Fuel Price Index for the week of March 1.
Click here for the DOE Fuel Price Index History

NASSTRAC Provides More Details of Annual Conference in April
There are nearly 40 educational and networking sessions that are available to logistics, transportation and SCM professionals during the 2004 NASSTRAC Shipping Strategies & Logistics Conference. This industry event, which will take place April 12-15 in Naples, Fla., is an ideal opportunity to discover new and profitable ways to gain efficiencies, improve productivity, streamline your operation, and expand your industry network. Roger Nober, Chairman of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, will be a special keynote. There is also a full agenda of case studies and shipper-based discussions on a number of topics in eight tracks, including business and government, outsourcing, security/customs, technology, delivery methods, and supply chain solutions. Click here for full details and to register.

NASSTRAC challenges NCC on excessive class ratings for mixed shipments NASSTRAC has formally objected to the National Classification Committee (NCC) about provisions of the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) under which mixed palletized shipments are rated at the highest class rating of any included commodity. As NASSTRAC stated in its filing with the NCC, these provisions mean that a pallet including 50 bowling balls and 1 box of ping pong balls would be rated as if it consisted entirely of ping pong balls. This obviously produces a higher class rating than using the average density of the palletized freight. Because higher class ratings generally mean higher freight rates, shippers are penalized by these provisions.

Item 640, Section 3 of the NMFC, which provides for such artificially inflated class ratings on mixed shipments, contains an exception allowing articles in mixed shipments to be rated individually. However, the requirements to meet this exception are burdensome, and the NCC is considering a proposal to make them more burdensome. In addition, recent changes in the NMFC mean that many more shipments are considered “mixed” today, because the NCC has adopted scales of different ratings for the same article, depending on density. As a result, more shipments are subject to inflated ratings and higher rates, and yet the NCC’s new proposal would make this result harder to avoid.

NASSTRAC questions why any mixed shipment should be rated at the highest class rating of any included article, rather than at the overall density of the palletized freight. Provisions like this artificially increase freight rates, and have no place in a tariff published by carriers acting collectively, with antitrust immunity.

For NASSTRAC Archive News Items