Transportationcompanies like YRC levy fuel surcharges to cover rising fuelcosts. Fuel prices have come down since oil hit a high ofaround $147 last July and surcharges have come down as well. Last week YRC received approval from its banking group tooffer real estate as collateral to secure deferred pension fundpayments, which Zollars put at around $40 million a month. Thecompany had said at an analyst meeting earlier this month thatit expected to report charges of up to $185 million for thefirst quarter. In February, the struggling company’s creditors approved anamendment to its $950 million senior revolving creditfacility.

YRC has shed jobs, shuttered facilities and restructuredits trucking network to try to turn its business around amidthe U.S recession. In January, its unionized workers agreed toa 10 percent pay cut in return for a 15 percent stake in thecompany. CEO Zollars said the company is still confident ofrealizing up to $500 million in property sale andsale/leaseback deals this year. He added that a growing numberof bidders interested in the properties up for sale.

In after-hours trade YRC shares were down more than 3percent at $3.43 from their official Thursday closing price of$3.55 on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Nick Carey; Editing by Phil Berlowitz, LeslieGevirtz) Stocks. WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States needs a ranking of the riskiest products to help inspectors, lawmakers and food safety officials determine where to focus their attention, a top Agriculture Department official said. Health”In order to have a uniform system for inspection I would say that there has to be a risk ranking,” said Alfred Almanza, administrator for USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.”When you look at product risk and you look at the risk ranking of where different products stand … I think that’s probably the key for the level of inspection, the amount of inspection, the intensity of the inspection,” he told a House Agriculture subcommittee.The U.S.

food supply system has been hit by a series of big food recalls since 2006, leading to vociferous calls by lawmakers, consumer groups and most recently the Obama administration for reform. Several bills have been introduced in Congress to modernize the system.Last month, President Barack Obama announced a White House panel — headed by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Health and Human Services chief Kathleen Sebelius — to find ways to improve food safety.Almanza said a high-risk ranking should factor in the type of food, the risk of producing and manufacturing the product and how it is handled, especially once it leaves federally inspected or regulated establishments.”I think that’s certainly something that perhaps this food safety working group could do,” he suggested.USDA’s FSIS oversees about 20 percent of the food supply — covering eggs, meat and poultry. The agency has about 7,800 federal inspectors, responsible for about 6,200 slaughter and processing plants in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration covers most of the remainder.Much of the call for change has been focused on the FDA, which has been impacted by most of the major recalls, including the recent peanut scare, while at the same time being dogged by limited funding, personnel and regulatory oversight.In an effort to beef-up oversight, USDA has embraced a risk-based inspection system of its own.

It still inspects plants under its purview once a day, but now directs more resources depending on the inherent risk of the product produced and how effectively each facility controls risk.In some cases, the FDA can go several years without inspecting a facility.(Reporting by Christopher Doering; Editing by Christian Wiessner) Health. Carlos Zambrano pitched eight innings, allowing just one earned run on six hits, while striking out three and walking four. He did get into some jams in the game, but he was able to bail himself out. He got a bit wild in the fourth inning when he hit a batter to load the bases, then walked Blake Dewitt which forced in a run.As for the Dodgers’ starter Derek Lowe, he pitched seven innings, allowing no earned runs on four hits, while striking out five and walking two. The lost was handed to Chan Ho Park, who gave up the winning hit in the bottom of the tenth to Soriano. Takashi Saito blew the save in the ninth with the Dodgers leading 1-0.With the win, the Cubs now are 32-21 on the season, and lead the NL Central by one-and-a-half games over the St.