A.M. Executive Briefing - July 21
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ATA, Carriers File Suit Against Oregon's Truck Weight Tax
American Trucking Associations, Inc., CRST Inc. of Cedar Rapids, Iowa and USF Reddaway of Clackamas, Ore., filed a lawsuit Thursday in the Marion County Circuit Court claiming Oregon's weight-distance tax unfairly discriminates against out-of-state truckers.Oregon charges most general commodities carriers a per-mile rate based on a truck's weight. Those carriers don't have to pay a fuel tax. However, farm vehicles are exempt from the weight-distance tax and pay a fuel tax, while transporters of certain natural resources pay flat fees.
The lawsuit claims most carriers eligible for the lower tax alternatives are companies based in Oregon, and that the higher fees are aimed at interstate carriers.
ATA used the same argument and made similar claims in its successful lawsuits against weight-distances taxes in Arkansas and Idaho. Jeff Johnson, Transport Topics
Mineta To Leave ITS Board After OK'd as Commerce Chief
With former U.S. Rep. Norman Mineta confirmed Thursday as secretary of Commerce, the Intelligent Transportation Society of America said Mineta would be stepping down from its board.
ineta, a 10-term California congressman, had chaired the House Public Works and Transportation Committee from 1993 to 1995. His interest in technology issues and that transportation background were selling points when President Clinton nominated him to succeed William Daley at Commerce. Daley is moving over to the Al Gore presidential campaign.
ITS America is a non-profit, public-private partnership America that now represents more than 900 private, public and academic interests promoting the use of technology in transportation. It has chapters in 31 states and international affiliates in Europe and Asia.
Mineta joined the ITS America board after becoming vice president in charge of Lockheed Martin's Transportation System and Services Division in late 1995. Transport Topics
Mexico's Dina Eyes Its Truck Building Contract With Western Star
Mexican truck maker Consorcio G. Grupo Dina said it was seeking talks with Freightliner over supplying trucks to Western Star, Dina's biggest customer.Dina has a contract to supply Western Star, a Canadian truck builder, with 9,000 trucks over the next three years, Reuters reported. The news service said that last month Western Star had asked for a temporary delay on Dina delivering 140 of them, and that played a part in Dina having to delay an interest payment on its debt last week.
This week, when DaimlerChrysler's Freightliner announced plans to buy Western Star, Freightliner's chief executive said no decision had been made on continuing the contract, Dina noted in a press release Thursday. So Dina said it wants to start talks to clear things up as soon as possible.
Dina pointedly said its "management is confident that both Western Star and its prospective parent, Freightliner, will act in good faith" to work out a deal fair to all involved, and that for now "we assume that the contract remains in force." The company called on its investors and debt holders "to await definitive information" on the contract. Transport Topics
Simon Reports Net Loss of $267,000 In Fiscal Third Quarter
Once again, high fuel costs were blamed for lackluster financial performance when truckload carrier Simon Transportation announced its fiscal third quarter results Friday.Simon reported a 13.7% increase in revenues and a net loss of $267,000 or 4 cents per diluted share for the quarter.
"The cost of fuel continued to hamper our efforts to maintain profitability," said company CEO Richard D. Simon, citing a 35% rise in fuel costs. He also said that while several customers shouldered fuel surcharges, Simon still lost approximately $1.2 million in fuel costs. Transport Topics
WestStart-CALSTART Unveils New Transportation Demo Projects
A turbine-driven hybrid-electric truck and a universal multiport rapid charger for electric vehicles are the two demonstration projects recently unveiled by WestStart-CALSTART.The projects are being funded by the Defense Advanced Research Agency and are aimed at increasing the commercial viability of advanced transportation technologies, the company said in the announcement.
The THT is the first microturbine used in a Class 8 hybrid-electric truck, while the charger will be used for off-road electric vehicles such as forklifts.
WestStart-CALSTART is a consortium working on new innovations in electric, hybrid-electric and natural gas vehicles. Transport Topics
Former Ill. Inspector General Indicted In CDL Scandal
Dean Bauer, Illinois inspector general when current Gov. George Ryan was secretary of state, was indicted this week on charges of covering up a scandal involving thousands of fixed CDL tests, the Associated Press reported.The indictment comes as part of a federal investigation that has seen 37 people charged and 28 convicted of various wrongdoings from bribery to racketeering, the article said.
A related Chicago Tribune article reported that Ryan defended his former investigator's character, calling Bauer "a loyal guy ... a hard-working fellow," and refusing to "make any judgment now."
The Tribune also reported that five instructors of Chicago driving schools were indicted on charges of bribing licensing officials to pass their students. Transport Topics
Louisiana Parish Wants Truck Stops, Not Poker Parlors
St. Bernard Parish, La., has approved a new ordinance that spells out very strict guidelines on what truck stops should include, The Times-Picayune reported this week.The parish (synonymous with county) adopted the ordinance to prevent video poker parlors opening under the guise of being a functional truck stop. The guidelines are stricter than those set by the state of Louisiana.
Under the ordinance, a truck stop must have 10 contiguous acres of developed land and a 20-foot landscaped buffer zone; be 500 feet from a residential or recreational area, school, church or park; have parking for 100 trucks; be located next to a major highway and offer food, fuel and other services such as showers for truckers. Transport Topics
