Executive Briefing - Oct. 26
- Ford Settles Ignitions Lawsuit
- Goodyear Net Drops, While Goodrich Rises
- Intermodal Lags in 42nd Week of Year
- Truck May Be Downfall for California's 'Botts' Dots
- Arizona Gov. Picks New DOT Director
- US 1 Industries Makes Two Acquisitions
- Goodyear Net Drops, While Goodrich Rises
Ford Settles Ignitions Lawsuit
Ford Motor Co. has settled a massive lawsuit by agreeing to reimburse owners for repairs on an estimated 22 million vehicles prone to stalling because of ignition problems, news services reported.The deal that could cost the company billions of dollars, and covers a number of models that are used in trucking applications, such as the F-Series.
The vehicles covered in the lawsuit were made from 1983 through 1995, and sold in the United States. The Associated Press previously reported that that at least 11 deaths and 31 injuries were blamed on stalling vehicles. Transport Topics
Goodyear Net Drops, While Goodrich Rises
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. posted net income of $9.3 million, or 6 cents per share in the third quarter of 2001. This is down from 2000's third quarter net income of $17 million, or 11 cents per share.
Despite this Goodrich also announced 2,400 layoff and closure of 14 plants associated with the commercial air and aerospace industries, Reuters reported.
"Because of a general economic slowdown, market conditions were tough in many regions during the quarter," said Sam G. Gibara, chairman and chief executive officer of Goodyear. "In September, industry volumes in our key markets were off markedly."Transport Topics
Intermodal Lags in 42nd Week of Year
The first 42 weeks of the year saw 7,235,586 trailers and containers loaded on the nation's railroads, compared to 7,42,616 last year, a decline of 2.8%.Of those, 2,105,916 were trailers, down 9.9% from last year and 5,129,670 were containers, up 0.5%.
Intermodal is the segment of the railroad business most directly competitve with trucking, since it uses trailers and containers that also ride the rails.
For the week ended Oct. 20, total intermodal traffic was 187,603 trailers and containers compared with 193,479 last year.
Trailers were down 13.2% while containers were up 1.5%. Transport Topics
Truck May Be Downfall for California's 'Botts' Dots
The raised traffic lane markers that vehicles traveling on California roads have followed for more than three decades may soon be removed, due to in large part to heavy-duty trucks.Named for Elbert Botts, a senior state chemical testing engineer, who died five years before the state Legislature approved them in 1966, the dots were supposed to increase the visibility of lane divider lines at night and warn tired or inattentive drivers who stray into adjacent lanes by making a rumbling sound when tires ride over them.
The Associated Press reported that many of the 25 million "Botts" dots have been crumbling under the weight of trucks. Expected to last 10 years, the dots now usually last only two.
But safety may not be affected.
The AP said that earlier this year, officials removed the dots on three Sacramento freeway segments and found no increase in accidents involving lane changes. Transport Topics
Arizona Gov. Picks New DOT Director
Arizona Gov. Jane Hull has appointed Deputy Director Victor Mendez as the new director of the state's Department of Transportation, the Associated Press reported.He replaces Mary Peters, who resigned to become the head of the Federal Highway Administration. The FHA is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation and works to improve surface transportation.
Mendez has been deputy director since 1999 and held other civil engineering and supervisory posts, according to AP. Transport Topics
US 1 Industries Makes Two Acquisitions
US 1 Industries Inc., a non-asset based service provider to businesses operating in the trucking industry, said Thursday that it has acquired Transport Leasing Services Inc. and Transport Logistics LLC, non-asset based intermodal drayage and brokerage transportation companies.In a separate deal, US 1 acquired the operations of ERX Inc., an agent/owner-operator based trucking company located in Kearny, N.J. Transport Topics
