Executive Briefing - June 11
- Yellow Expands Service, Cuts Time
- Freightliner to Close Plant Briefly
- New Rules on Railroad Mergers Announced
- Runge Tapped for NHTSA, Post Says
- FTC Says Marathon Withheld Gas Supplies
- Bush Denies Ethanol Waiver to Calif.
- Greenbrier Ready for More Downsizing
- AutoZone to Close Stores, May Sell TruckPro
- Maryland Considers New Filling Station
- Freightliner to Close Plant Briefly
Yellow Expands Service, Cuts Time
By adding five new distribution centers, Yellow Freight System said it has increased its standard ground regional network, now completing 70% of shipping in three days or less.
These centers have created 212 new jobs at 60 locations, many of which will be offered to workers whose position were recently eliminated, Bloomberg reported.
Yellow, based in Overland Park, Kan., added centers in Chicago, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and Lancaster, Pa. in response to the increasing demand for faster shipping due to more rigid inventory controls by manufacturers, and shorter shelf lives of products stocked by major retailers.
Recent changes have also taken place in Buffalo, Charlotte, Cleveland and Nashville.
(Click here for the full press release.)
Freightliner to Close Plant Briefly
Freightliner will close its Mt. Holly, N.C. plant for a week, beginning June 18, a spokesman said on Monday.
The closing was ascribed to market conditions. Freightliner, along with other truck manufacturers has been confronted with falling orders in the light of a softening economy and a glut of used trucks.
The Mt. Holly plant builds trucks in classes five through eight.
To date, the Portland, Ore.-based company has eliminated some 8,200 jobs through layoffs, dismissals and attrition. Transport Topics.
New Rules on Railroad Mergers Announced
The U.S. Surface Transportation Board said Monday that it plans to take a harder look at proposed railroad mergers if the companies have revenues of more than $250 million annually.The board, which is an arm of the Department of Transportation, said it will make it more difficult for mergers to go through because there is no longer an oversupply of rail cars for cargo and because previous combinations have disrupted rail traffic.
The new rules for mergers say it must enhance competition, which could include making special arrangements with other railroads. In addition, a plan for dealing with service problems that could result from a merger must be provided.
Canadian National, one of the railroads affected by these new rules, said it was pleased with the rules because it will raise the bar for the quality of customer service. Transport Topics
Runge Tapped for NHTSA, Post Says
Jeffrey Runge, a physician trained in emergency room medicine and experienced in injury prevention and traffic safety will be the new head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, reports the Washington Post.The agency, which investigates vehicle defects and sets safety standards, has been without a political appointee since late January.
According to sources cited by the Post, expertise in the study of alcohol and impaired driving, the epidemiology of vehicle crashes, and the prevention of vehicle injuries, combined with his state and federal experience qualify Runge over other professionals being considered.
The agency is currently completing a high-profile investigation into last year's recall of the 6.5 million Firestone tires and working to issue more than a dozen related safety regulations. Last month, Ford recalled 13 million additional Firestone tires.
Runge, a North Carolina resident, is currently in his 15th year as the assistant chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. Transport Topics
FTC Says Marathon Withheld Gas Supplies
Marathon Ashland Petroleum LCC intentionally withheld gasoline supplies for some midwestern markets last summer to keep prices high, the Wall Street Journal reported.However, the Federal Trade Commission found Marathon’s actions were not illegal, and no action was taken against the big refiner.
In March, the FTC said these actions were among the reasons prices soared by 28 cents per gallon in three weeks in June 2000.
Marathon told the FTC that is was trying to maximize profits and was concerned about flooding the market. The company’s profit on petroleum products more than doubled in the second quarter of 2000, compared to the same quarter in 1999. Transport Topics
Bush Denies Ethanol Waiver to Calif.
Calif. Gov. Gray Davis has failed to obtain a waiver on the use of additives, such as corn-based ethanol, in the state’s gasoline, according to press reports.The waiver was sought because the state had banned the use of MTBE, which another additive which helps gasoline burn more cleanly, but which has been blamed for tainting water supplies.
Lining up against the waiver had been farm and ethanol interests, mostly representative of midwestern corn-producing states.
Petroleum companies supported the waiver, citing the difficulties that come with making more special fuels for different reasons. Transport Topics
Greenbrier Ready for More Downsizing
Greenbrier Cos. has announced a new round of downsizing and production slowdowns in response to what it calls continued softness in the railroad supply market in North America.So far this year the company has fired 1,500 workers and said it will be forced to eliminate additional positions unless orders pick up.
Greenbrier manufactures railcars including several types of intermodal equipment, a downturn in demand for such equipment reflects the downturn in freight demand that impacts trucking as well.
President Bill Furman said the company is realizing the severe effects of the recession in the North American railroad supply business and is taking firm action. Transport Topics
(Click here for the press release.)
AutoZone to Close Stores, May Sell TruckPro
AutoZone Inc. said it plans to shut down between 30 and 60 stores over the next few months as part of its current restructuring. It is not expecting many layoffs.The Memphis-based company also said it is trying to decide what to do with 49 heavy-duty truck supply stores that make up its TruckPro subsidiary.
The unit, which could be restructured or sold, continues to be profitable but its returns are less than those of the auto parts business, the company said.
AutoZone also said it is comfortable with the fiscal fourth-quarter earnings estimate of 96 cents per share, before restructuring charges. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
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Maryland Considers New Filling Station
Officials from Howard County in Maryland are considering a new filling station that would serve fleets of commercial delivery trucks rather than passenger cars, the Baltimore Sun reported.It would be located on U.S. 1, south of Route 175, about midway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
By giving commercial trucks a place to fill up, officials said the new station would reduce back-ups at other nearby service stations.
In addition, they believe it would make sense for the truck companies because the station would not have any stores, so they wouldn’t have to worry about drivers abusing corporate credit cards. Transport Topics
