NEWS IN BRIEF, Continued from page 10
For smaller carriers, the process is
more daunting, said Terry Croslow, CFO of Venture Express in La Vergne, Tenn. “I’ve been rewriting our policy to
take advantage of the de minimis rule and keeping an eye out for items to capitalize, but I think there’s a lot of lost productive time spent to comply,” Croslow said after going through much of the 73-page rule. For carriers with $30 million to $50 million in annual revenue, certified audits are not typical, said Croslow, a former chairman of the National Accounting & Finance Council of American Trucking Associations. Regularly serviced items such as
loading dock doors can be expensed immediately, Parrish said he has advised his trucking clients. “These rules give companies an opportunity to take a second look at their policies on these issues,” he said. Parrish and KSM’s Bradburn agreed that carriers should have written policies on deductions and depreciation in place by the beginning of their tax years. Without a written policy in place a company cannot take advantage of safe harbor rules offered in 9636. Bradburn said his company has
been advising trucking clients to try and put new trucks into service before the end of 2013 when the popular bonus depreciation tax break expired.
MARY BARRA NAMED GM CEO, AUTOMAKER’S FIRST FEMALE CHIEF There’s a woman behind the wheel
for the first time at General Motors as Mary Barra was named CEO. Barra, the company’s executive vice president of global product development, purchasing and supply chain, will take over for cur- rent CEO Dan Akerson, who has been GM’s chairman and chief executive since September 2010. “I will leave with great satisfaction
in what we have accomplished, great optimism over what is ahead and great pride that we are restoring General
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Motors as America’s standard bearer in the global auto industry,” Akerson said in a message to employees, the company reported. CEO-to-be Barra, who ranks 35th
on Forbes’ list of most powerful women, has worked at GM for 33 years and has
previous month’s gain remained high at 200,000. Three of the last four monthly increases have been 200,000 or more, something that hasn’t happened since November 2012 through February 2013. The Department of Labor attribut-
ed the November gains to increased hir- ing in transportation and warehousing, health care and manufacturing. The manufacturing sector added
27,000 people to their payrolls, the best single month since March 2012. Construction employment rose 17,000. The latest data could build antici-
pation that the Federal Reserve might taper its stimulus program. “It’s a significant report for the
experience with positions in manufac- turing, engineering and senior manage- ment. She began her GM career a co-op student in the Pontiac Motor Division in 1980 and gradually worked her way up the corporate ladder. In the state- ment announcing her new role as CEO, GM credited Barra with “revitalizing GM’s product development process,” saying that her efforts resulted in higher product quality ratings and increased customer satisfaction. Barra will also join GM’s board,
though a different executive was chosen to succeed Akerson as chairman of the board: that position will go to Theodore (Tim) Solso, who is the former chair- man and CEO of Cummins and has been a member of the GM Board since June 2012.
UNEMPLOYMENT DROPS TO LOWEST LEVEL IN FIVE YEARS In November, the unemployment
rate fell to its lowest level in five years, from 7.3 percent to 7 percent—a result of solid job creation, rather than people leaving the workforce. The Department of Labor reported
203,000 jobs (net) were created in November, beating the consensus forecast of 183,000. Additionally, the
Fed to decide whether to begin wind- ing down its bond-buying stimulus program,” Yuki Noguchi said on NPR’s Morning Edition. “They’ve been buying $85 billion a month in mortgage-backed securities, which is basically like a money spigot, putting money back into the economy. And they’ve been debating when to turn that money spigot off.” Economist Hugh Johnson believes
the Fed will keep its target interest rates at rock-bottom levels for the next year, even as it reins in the stimulus buying program. And he reminds us that it’s all because of good economic news. “We have four successive months
where we’ve got increases in jobs being created in the manufacturing sector of the economy,” Johnson said, “and even more than that of construction employ- ment being on the increase. And that’s very good news, or prospects, for 2014.”
FOR-HIRE TRUCKING ENJOYS BEST-HIRING MONTH SINCE APRIL Of the 203,000 jobs added to the
economy last month, some 8,400 were for positions in for-hire trucking—the best month since April. Similarly, good economic news
from the Commerce Department reported that GDP increased at an annual rate of 3.6 percent in the third quarter.
ARKANSAS TRUCKING REPORT | Issue 6 2013
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