P.M. Executive Briefing - Aug. 11

Viking Freight Announces Fuel Surcharge

The less-than-truckload carrier, based in San Jose, Calif., made the announcement Aug. 10 of its plans to join other competitors in collecting the fee. Yellow Freight System, Consolidated Freightways and several other companies began instituting the charge July 5 when the national average price for diesel fuel passed $1.10 a gallon.

Two weeks later, major truckload carriers put the surcharges in place when the price topped the $1.12 threshold contained in many contracts.

Viking’s tariff allows for a 0.5% surcharge when the level hits $1.12 a gallon – which the company declined to implement – and a 1% surcharge when the price reaches $1.15. If the national average reaches $1.20 a gallon, the surcharge will rise to 1.5%. – Dan Lang

FDX-USF Competition Heats Up in Puerto Rico

On Aug. 9, USFreightways announced the acquisition of Best Ways Air Cargo of Carolina, Puerto Rico, for an undisclosed amount by its freight forwarding subsidiary, USF Worldwide. Three days earlier, FDX Corp.’s subsidiary FDX Global Logistics, based in Memphis, Tenn., agreed to buy Geologistics Air Services for $116 million.

epresentatives of both companies said they would focus on the lucrative pharmaceutical and medical supply sectors in the U.S. territory.

Gelogistics Air Services specializes in heavy and oversized air freight forwarding services between the United States and Puerto Rico.

FDX spokeswoman Shirlee Clark said FDX Global Logistics will take over Geologistics Air Services’ assets including personnel, facilities and customer network because it is a "strong company that provides an excellent fit with FDX’s existing services." The move is subject to federal approval.

The USF Worldwide deal has been finalized, and the company is taking over Best Ways’ operation immediately. Included in the deal will be an 18,000-square-foot warehouse and office facility near the San Juan Airport.

In acquiring Best Ways, USF obtains employees with experience in the Puerto Rican market and an established customer base, said John Mugnaini, vice president of sales and marketing at USF Worlwide.

"We want to provide a full package of transportation services to our Fortune 1,000 clients, and serving the Puerto Rico pharmaceutical industry is part of that package," he said.

Mugnaini downplayed the significance of the FDX Global Logistics purchase, saying that competition is everywhere. "We’re excited about the competition, and may the best man win."

Mary Ellen Nicoletti, vice president of Puerto Rico operations for Geologistics Air Services, said it will take six weeks to receive federal approval. She said the operation, which is based in a hangar at the San Juan Airport, carries more tonnage than Best Ways.

Geologistics Air Services had operating income of $4.3 million in the first quarter of 1999.

Qualcomm to Test Product Aimed at LTL Carriers

Omni Express will be sold to LTLs, service fleets and utility fleets to automate their communication systems. It represents a departure from Qualcomm’s traditional satellite product that is used primarily for truckload carriers that need nationwide tracking and communications.

The product is expected to be introduced next year. Buyers will get an antenna, a keyboard and a telephone receiver for their trucks. The basic software will enable customers to communicate with drivers and track vehicles.

Omni Express will give smaller, metropolitan-based fleets the ability to communicate cost effectively through voice or data transmissions, according to Qualcomm.

Norm Ellis, director of new markets business development at Qualcomm, said the advantage of using data over voice is that transmissions are faster, with a less likelihood of error. The ability to transmit data also gives companies the option of expanding their data management capabilities with new software.

However, the telephone can be used when the company prefers to communicate by voice, Ellis said. Phone lines can be restricted so users cannot run up bills making unnecessary calls.

"Qualcomm equipment is not proprietary," said Susan Hind, the company’s industry relations manager for wireless business solutions. If customers want to add systems such as load matching or route maximization, "software developers can work with us to integrate those options into their operating systems."

The unit will automatically recognize a voice transmission and ring through to the driver. Data transmissions pop up on the cab’s computer screen and a beep alerts the driver.

Insurer Sponsors College Scholarships For Children of Truck Driving Championship Participants

warded by the American Trucking Assosiations’ Safety Management Council, the scholarships will go to children and grandchildren of 1998 driving contestants. Carolina Casualty Insurance is sponsoring the first scholarships, which will be officially announced at the 1999 National Truck Driving Championships, which runs from Aug. 18 to 21 in Tampa, Fla.

Receiving the $1,000 scholarships are Kimberly Boitano of Thornton, Colo.; Lyndzi Hinds of Riverdale, Utah; Sammy Holcomb of Wesson, Miss.; Laura Marie Wickman of Rochester, N.H.; and Adam Stahr, of Sioux Falls, S.D. All five students will be freshmen in college.

The scholarships are awarded based on scholastic record, extracurricular activities and financial need, said Shawn Boynes of the safety council.

Mel Ingram worked for 13 years at Carolina Casualty, which specializes in policies for the long-haul truck and transportation industries, and was active in the Safety Management Council. He died Feb 6 of congestive heart failure at age 51. The insurance company will fund the scholarship program’s first year to commemorate Ingram’s personal and professional contributions to the company, said Peg Kirby, who worked for him.

"He was well-liked by everybody, and he was a great source of information," she said.

Plans call for making the scholarships an annual event, although no sponsor has been secured for next year’s awards, Boynes said. – Daniel L. Whitten

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North American Inspectors Championship

The North American Inspectors Championships will run parallel to the National Truck Driving Championships in Tampa, Fla. Some 60 competitors from state and provincial police, public safety and highway departments will don their uniforms and crawl under and around parked trucks and trailers, looking for defects that been planted by the competition’s organizers. The inspectors will also check the logbooks and interview competitors from the driving championship as they would drivers on the road.

And similar to the competing drivers, the inspectors will be quizzed and judged on their attitudes toward their responsibilities and undergo a written test.

Formerly known as the Challenge series, the event’s sponsorship has passed from the Federal Highway Administration to the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, which is the inspectors’ own organization. Hence the new name.

Lt. Ron Cordova of the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Transport Division, one of the competition’s coordinators, said the contest "enhances inspectors’ professional skills and helps ensure the quality and uniformity of the more than 2 million roadside inspections conducted each year throughout North America."

Cordova, who heads commercial vehicle safety at border crossings and five counties in New Mexico, won the competition’s Award for Excellence in 1994.