Page 22 - NTDA TrailerTalk - December 2024

TRAILERTALK

OSHA Extends Public Comment Period on Heat Injury, Illness to Jan. 14

U.S. Department of Labor extends public comment period for proposed heat injury, illness prevention rule until Jan. 14, 2025.
The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration has extended the public
comment period for its proposed rule to protect workers from extreme heat exposure in indoor and outdoor workplaces to
remain open until Jan. 14, 2025.
stakeholders more time to review the proposed rule and gather relevant information and data for their input.

OSHA also announced an informal public hearing on the proposed rule will begin on June 16, 2025.
“Reducing the dangers of workplace heat exposure and illness is critical to saving lives and preventing workers from suffering
needless illnesses,” said Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Douglas Parker. “This 15-day extension to the
already lengthy comment period will take the deadline past the holiday season and help ensure that stakeholders can share
valuable insights we need to craft a rule that protects workers from extreme heat indoors and outdoors effectively.”

Submit comments to Docket Number OSHA-2021-0009 at https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/OSHA-2021-0009-4761.
FedEx Freight Spinoff to Create Largest Global Conditions Look Good For
LTL Carrier 2025, But Confidence Wavers

FedEx Corp. announced on Dec. 19 its intent to spin off its FedEx Freight On paper, everything about 2025 looks good. Inflation
unit into a separate company, creating the largest publicly traded less- has returned to target levels in most major economies,
than-truckload carrier in North America in the process. labor markets appear surprisingly resilient and
consumer spending remains steady despite having
The company in a release said the decision was made after its board eased back from a post-pandemic splurge. The global
of directors conducted an assessment of the role FedEx Freight held in economy is projected to grow 3% next year, and the
its broader portfolio and “decided to pursue a full separation of FedEx multi-year doubt about a hard versus soft landing has
Freight through the capital markets, creating a new publicly traded been settled definitively by a landing so cottony-soft it
company.” hardly seems like a landing at all.
FedEx said the creation of two companies — FedEx and FedEx Freight Analysts and researchers at S&P Global Ratings recently
— would preserve “operational synergies between both companies” published a global credit conditions report. At first
while enabling “greater strategic, operational and financial execution glance, the news looks good. S&P Global Ratings’ credit
for each company and its stakeholders.” cycle indicator appears to be signaling a credit recovery
in 2025 on the back of a strong corporate sector, and
FedEx ranks No. 2 on the Transport Topics (TT) Top 100 list of the largest credit defaults are forecast to decline. While the danger
for-hire carriers in North America, and FedEx Freight is No. 1 on the LTL of default is higher for speculative-grade issuers than
carriers list. FedEx also ranks No. 2 on the TT Top 50 list of the largest for investment-grade issuers, even the downgrade
global freight carriers. And FedEx Logistics ranks No. 34 on the TT Top potential for speculative-grade debt is forecast to
100 logistics companies list. decline. Corporate earnings have steadily grown due
to improved profit margins, rather than increased sales.
“This is the right time to pursue a separation as we respond to the unique Companies have also done a good job pushing out
dynamics of the LTL market,” FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam said. “This maturities through refinancing.
announcement is a testament to the strength of the business our team
has built, and to our dedication to doing what’s best for our customers, Despite this abundance of positive data, worries
our team members and our stockholders. Through this process, we will regarding geopolitics, trade, real estate, climate change
unlock value for our Freight business and position FedEx to create even and cyberattacks persist. S&P Global Ratings Global
greater value for stockholders.” Chief Economist Paul Gruenwald cautioned readers to
“buckle up” in his economic outlook for the first quarter
The separation process will commence immediately and is expected to of 2025.
be completed within 18 months, FedEx said, subject to regulatory and
other conditions as well as final approval of the board of directors. The second Trump administration is at the top of the list
of factors driving uncertainty for economic and credit
With revenue of $9.4 billion in fiscal 2024, FedEx Freight has increased conditions. Despite a burst of equity market euphoria
operating profit by nearly 25% on average per year over the past five following the US presidential election, President-elect
years, according to the release, delivering about 1,100 basis points of Donald Trump’s policies regarding trade could create
operating margin expansion over the same period. macroeconomic turbulence. Proposed tariffs on all
imported goods, as well as additional tariffs on goods
FedEx said the planned separation will create two independent publicly from Canada, Mexico and China, could have inflationary
listed companies and will qualify as a tax-free separation for federal effects in the US and be damaging to some industries.
income tax purposes. This would create a drag on US GDP growth in the
near term and lead to problems for industries with
The spinoff company will continue to operate under the FedEx Freight highly engineered products that depend on imported
name. semiconductors and electrical components.

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