Executive Briefing - June 27
- Bering Files Suit Against Hyundai, Daimler
- Continental Sees Truck Tire Growth With Bandag Alliance
- Lucent, JDS Uniphase Likely to Cut More Jobs
- White House to Push Energy Plan
- Interstate 95 in Virginia Has Reopened
- Bush to Nominate Blakey As NTSB Head
- Bridgestone May Close Plant in Decatur, Ill.
- CN Chief Hits Taxes, Inspection Policies at U.S.-Canadian Border
- N.D. Name Change Sought
- Construction to Create Problems Around Milwaukee
- BP to Introduce Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel
- Continental Sees Truck Tire Growth With Bandag Alliance
Bering Files Suit Against Hyundai, Daimler
Hyundai Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG (DCX) have been accused in a suit filed Wednesday by Bering Truck Corp. of teaming up to illegally limit competition and end an agreement to supply trucks to Bering, Bloomberg reported.
Based in Front Royal, Va., Bering said a joint venture between the two companies is anti-competitive, and it was forced to suspend operations on June 19 because Hyundai failed to live up to its contractual obligations during the past year.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Harrisonburg, Va., reportedly seeks $500 million in damages and for Daimler to divest its 10% interest in Hyundai.
Hyundai said last week it was in talks with Daimler’s Detroit Diesel to establish a commercial vehicle parts network. It also said it is looking to replace Bering as its U.S. commercial vehicle distributor after ending the relationship in November over a disagreement on payments. Transport Topics
Continental Sees Truck Tire Growth With Bandag Alliance
Tire and car parts maker Continental AG said Wednesday that it expects strong growth in its truck tire business from its cooperation with Bandag (BDG/A).Based in Muscatine, Iowa, Bandag has developed a cost-efficient process for re-treading, and will use its European network to produce 180,000 retreads per year for the German company.
Continental hopes to boost its market share for retreads in Europe and to become the second biggest tire maker after France's Michelin.
Retreads account for about half the truck tires in Europe, Continental said. Transport Topics
Lucent, JDS Uniphase Likely to Cut More Jobs
Telecommunications equipment maker Lucent Technologies Inc. (LU) plans more layoffs that could number in the thousands after it completes a voluntary retirement program, sources close to the company told Reuters on Wednesday.
Job cuts in the manufacturing sector are important for the trucking industry because it usually means a decline in the volume of truck shipments in the next few months.
More than 10,000 Lucent employees have until July 10 to decide whether to accept early-retirement offers. Lucent management will decide the number of additional layoffs after seeing how many take the retirement package.
Meanwhile, JDS Uniphase Corp. (JDSU), a leading maker of optical networking equipment, is considering more job reductions on top of the 8,000 cuts announced earlier this year, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday.
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White House to Push Energy Plan
The Bush administration will embark on an all-out effort of public appearances and press sessions designed to win public support for the president’s energy plan.Energy prices affect trucking in several ways, from the cost of fuel to the prices of goods produced through the use of energy.
The Associated Press said Bush plans a speech and tour of the Energy Department for Thursday, and Vice President Dick Cheney and House Republicans will conduct a series of media interviews.
The plan includes increased domestic oil, natural gas, coal and electricity generation, as well as new measures aimed at boosting conservation and use of solar and wind power. Transport Topics
Interstate 95 in Virginia Has Reopened
All lanes of the inner loop of the Beltway have reopened after Virginia Department of Transportation crews spent hours removing tar spilled when a truck overturned early Wednesday.The accident occurred on the inner loop of the Beltway in Alexandria, Va., shutting down all four lanes of Interstate 95 just off the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.
Interstate 95 is a major truck route along the East Coast, and more than 200,000 vehicles and 20,000 large trucks cross the Wilson Bridge each day. The bridge connects Maryland and Virginia over the Potomac River near Washington, D.C.
Details of the accidents remain unclear. Transport Topics
Bush to Nominate Blakey As NTSB Head
President Bush plans to nominate Marion Blakey to become the next chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, the White House said.The NTSB is an independent federal agency that investigates transportation accidents in the United States, conducts special investigations and studies and issues safety recommendations to prevent future accidents.
This appointment, which runs through 2005, does require Senate confirmation.
Blakey served as administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the final year of the administration of Bush's father. She also served as the nation's chief auto safety regulator from 1992-93.
The board opening was created when former Chairman Jim Hall resigned in January. Transport Topics
Bridgestone May Close Plant in Decatur, Ill.
Japanese tire company Bridgestone Corp. (BGT-BER) said on Wednesday that it may close its Firestone plant in Decatur, Ill., as it takes action to recover from the Ford recall.The plant manufactures tires for passenger vehicles and light trucks.
The company said it would post a loss in 2001 for the first time since listing 30 years ago. It will also incur an additional special loss of $549.6 million in fiscal 2001. The Bridgestone/Firestone unit it expecting a net loss of $530 million in 2001.
The Decatur plant, which employs 1,500 people, could be closed later this year if demand for tires does not increase. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
CN Chief Hits Taxes, Inspection Policies at U.S.-Canadian Border
The Canadian National Railway Company (CNI) has called attention to the inefficiency surrounding freight traffic across the Canadian-U.S. border, citing inspection policies and heavier taxes as some of the biggest problems, Paul Tellier, CN president and chief executive officer, said.Tellier believes that transferring freight to railways to cross the border will lessen the congestion of trucks on the highways.
Using high-speed trains would further help transborder highway congestion, Tellier said, but Canada's high taxes on trains and U.S. inspection policies make it difficult.
Tellier suggested cooperation between U.S. and Canadian customs computer systems, a return to the voluntary customs compliance policy and customs inspections of shipments upon arrival rather than at border points as the most effective changes.
Last year, Canadian National moved 240,000 long-haul truckloads of freight between New York and Ontario, Canada. Transport Topics
N.D. Name Change Sought
Truckers making deliveries to Bismarck may stop heading "north" without heading south, if the Greater North Dakota Association has its way, the Associated Press reported.The association, which functions as the state's chamber of commerce, says removing "North" from the name of North Dakota would alter the state's image as a frigid, treeless prairie.
The action, if taken by alteration of the state constitution and the federal Enabling Act, which split the Dakota Territory into two states in 1889, would not affect the name of South Dakota.
Some state officials expressed concern that the plan would subject North Dakota to national ridicule. Transport Topics
Construction to Create Problems Around Milwaukee
Businesses in and around Milwaukee will face serious traffic problems due to a $1.4 billion reconstruction of the Marquette Interchange expected to last from 2004 to 2007, reported the Associated Press.The interchange, which handles 300,000 vehicles a day, is a main highway to the Minneapolis, Chicago and several areas within the state of Wisconsin. Congestion in the interchange can disrupt the flow of commercial trucking throughout the region.
Although the Marquette Interchange will remain open during the work, truckers and commuters will be detoured during parts of the work. Officials are already planning the detours, additional public transportation and Internet sites to help drivers. Transport Topics
BP to Introduce Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel
British Petroleum will start pushing its new ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel to retailers in California next month, Oil Price Information Service reported.The fuel reduces emissions by 10%-15% automatically, and up to 90% with after-treatment. This after-treated ECD 1 is "smokeless" when used in retrofitted engines.
The fuel will be available to fleets through BP's Carson refinery in Los Angeles and its Cherry Point refinery in the Pacific Northwest.
BP has started selling the low sulfur fuel with the hopes of winning the market before new low-sulfur standards come into effect in 2006. Transport Topics
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