Earnings Watch: UPS Reports Loss, Paccar Earnings Fall

Despite increased revenue and freight volume, parcel delivery and trucking company UPS Inc. on Tuesday reported a loss in the fourth quarter of 2016.

The net loss of $239 million, or 27 cents per share, compares to net income of $1.3 billion, or $1.48 per share, in the final three months of 2015. Total revenue increased 5% to $16.9 billion as the company delivered 1.4 billion packages during the quarter, 7.1% higher than a year earlier.

According to the company, much of the reason for the loss was due to pension charges of $1.90 per share. When it and other one-time charges are excluded, adjusted earnings for the final quarter of 2016 were $1.63 compared to $1.57 a year earlier but 5 cents less than a consensus estimate by a poll of Wall Street analysts.

UPS' domestic package operation revenue increased 6.3% from a year ago to $10.9 billion while its adjusted operating profit fell slightly to $1.33 billion. Average daily shipments increased 5% to 19.6 million.

Its supply chain and freight business, which includes the mainly less-than-truckload carrier UPS Freight, saw a 2.6% increase in fourth quarter revenue over the same time in 2015, totaling $2.7 billion.

LTL revenue increased 2% to $604 million as the number of LTL shipments edged up 0.3% and gross weight hauled improved 2.1% Despite this, UPS had an operating loss of $139 million versus a fourth quarter 2015 operating profit of $187 million.

For all of 2016, UPS net income totaled $3.4 billion, down 29.2% from 2015 as total revenue increased 4.4% to $60.9 billion.

Meantime, in the truck and engine manufacturing arena, the parent company to truck marques Kenworth and Peterbilt, saw both its fourth-quarter and full-year 2016 profits fall due to lower truck deliveries in North America.

Paccar Inc. earned $288.8 million, or 82 per ...Read the rest of this story

Real-World Electric Highway Tests Start in Sweden

This Scania Class 8 tractor can run on conventional diesel power, or connect to overhead wires and run on electric power at highway speeds. Photo: Scania

A joint project near the city of of Gävle in central Sweden is testing the feasibility of running electric-diesel hybrid trucks on stretches in real-world traffic conditions.

Swedish truck OEM Scania (which is owned by Germany's Volkswagen) is working with German technology-development firm Siemens to develop a new concept in commercial vehicle operation.

The 2-kilometer stretch of road features a dedicated hybrid truck lane with a Siemans conductive system with overhead electrical wires, very much like the systems commonly used on mass-transit street cars, buses and trains today.

Scania said it sees the Electric Road E16 project as a key component in achieving Sweden's ambition of an energy-efficient and fossil-free vehicle fleet by 2030. It can also help to strengthen Sweden's competitiveness in the rapidly developing area of sustainable transport.

Nils-Gunnar Vågstedt, who is responsible for Scania's research into electrification, said that, “The potential fuel savings through electrification are considerable and the technology can become a cornerstone for fossil-free road transport services.”

When the Scania Class 8 tractors are on a conventional stretch of road, they run on diesel engine power. When the truck pulls into the dedicated conductive lane, a forked metal bar, called a pantograph, extends upward from the top of the cab and makes a physical connection with the overhead wires.

Once that overhead connection is made, the truck's diesel engine shuts down and electrical power supplied by the conductive system allows the truck to continue running at highway speeds through its electric drivetrain.

Electric Road E16 is being funded in part by the Swedish government, which has invested approximately $88 million, with an additional $50 million coming from private businesses and the Gävleborg regional authority in Sweden where ...Read the rest of this story

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