TRUCKING INDUSTRY * WORLDWIDE

* The Netherlands - TNT to Sell Express Business - A ‘demerger’ will separate express and mail, could roil global expedited market

Hoofddorp,The Netherlands -The Journal of Commerce Online -Dec 2, 2010: -- TNT said Thursday it plans to sell its air express business, completing the breakup of one of the world’s largest transportation companies in a move that could shake up the competition in the very tight market of international express operators... The Netherlands-based company announced the planned sale, saying it would focus on its mail operations while selling a 70.1 percent stake in the express unit, one of the world’s top four international expedited services providers... TNT set the stage for the sale earlier this year when the company announced plans to separate the mail and express divisions into separate companies, an internal separation TNT says will take place on Jan. 1, 2011... A sale could have a dramatic impact on air express competition around the world... The mail division, which runs postal operations in the Netherlands, is more profitable than the express unit, but it is tied up in tough and long-running labor negotiations... (Photo from freefoto: TNT Articulated lorry)

* UK - Transport sector profits up, confidence down

London,UK -Eyefortransport -Dec 1, 2010: -- Confidence in the transportation and storage sector tumbles, despite improved turnover and profits... This quarter, confidence among businesses in the transport & storage sector has fallen to the lowest level seen this year, alongside weakened levels of confidence across the whole UK... However, the sector expects to see improvements in turnover, gross profits and sales in 2011, according to the latest ICAEW/Grant Thornton UK Business Confidence Monitor (BCM)... According to BCM, which tracks the confidence levels of UK finance and business professionals, the Confidence Index of businesses in the transport &  storage sector has fallen by more than 20 points to stand at 7.6 points in Q4 2010, from the considerably more buoyant 29 points seen in Q3... Across the UK, confidence fell by nearly 10 points, from 21.5 to 11.9 points...