The congestion pricing plan in New York City has come to an abrupt stop with the New York State Assembly rejecting the proposal.  The plan would have given New York $354 million Federal dollars for implementing a plan to reduce the congestion in Manhattan.  The plan included a toll for both cars and truck driving below 60^th Street in Manhattan from 6AM to 6PM on the weekends.

Many other options will now be considered to reduce the congestion in New York, while also reducing the emissions from vehicles and improving the air quality.  The congestion pricing plan would have put a huge tax on delivery vehicles and may have increased the prices of products in New York City.

The Chinese President Hu Jintao and New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark signed an agreement in Beijing yesterday to establish free trade between the two countries – no import tariffs for the next 11 years. This is the first free trade deal China signs with a developed country.

Australia is currently under negotiation for a similar deal.

Old Dominion has relocated its Dallas Service Center.  The new service center is larger than its old one.  The new facility is 160,000 square feet, and contains 234 doors.   The old facility only had 130 doors.  The facility has been in construction since February 2007. 

Dale Kelly, ODFL Director of Sales Gulf Coast Region, stated “Growth in Houston, Austin and other parts of the region all puts pressure on Dallas, because Dallas is a break bulk center [for ODFL].  So it is not just Dallas business; it is also business in the surrounding region that put ‘door pressure’ on our existing facility, and that is what [drove] us to go forward with this super-center.”

Kelly also stated about the additional doors, “As freight is picked up in the outside areas of the region—from places like Oklahoma and Arkansas—that freight will move into Dallas and be broke out and distributed within the region.  What the additional doors will allow us to do is get that freight up to the dock and start working it immediately upon arrival to Dallas. Whereas in the old facility, that freight may arrive in Dallas, and we may have not had doors in place to put it up and had work trailer after trailer and continuous locating of the doors. This allows us to do that more quickly, and it will provide better service because the freight will not be sitting as long.”