P.M. Executive Briefing - Aug. 24
This Afternoon's Headlines:
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Canadian Trucking Industry Balks at New Safety Rules
The Canadian federal government plans to unveil laws in the Canada Gazette next month mandating implementation of driver education programs and safety devices.The laws call for safety belts and other devices designed for transport trucks to help prevent drivers from falling of the top of their rigs. These regulations will only cost money and be ineffective according to the Canadian Trucking Alliance.
The alliance and Mr. MacKinnon say the trucking industry is already taking safety seriously and the alliance is calling for more specific guidelines. "They've been at it for three years but there are a lot of gaps," says alliance spokesperson Massimo Bergamini. National Post Online (8/23/99); Jack, Ian
Barjan Acquires Two New Companies, Including Market-Leading Wilson CB Antennas
Barjan Products of East Moline, Ill., which markets and distributes various products to travel centers across the country, has bought Wilson Electronics, Wilson Antenna, and Unique Products. Barjan will add the Wilson Electronics citizens-band (CB) radio equipment to its Diesel and Barjan brands and allow Barjan to enter the CB-dealer distribution channel.Wilson Antenna is the distribution unit of Wilson Electronics. Unique Products is a marketer and distributor of specialty products for truckers. Barjan made seven other purchases in the past two years. To handle its expansion, Barjan is building a 200,000-square-foot Quad Cities site. PRNewswire (08/23/99)
Trucking Group Hopes to Sway Feds on Driving Rules
In an attempt to sway the decisions of federal regulators working on new hours-of-service rules, the California Trucking Association (CTA) executive committee recommended that truckers' daily working hours should be cut from 15 to 14 hours."It won't happen every day, but they should have the ability to" work 14 hours, says association member and CPS Express Vice President Bill Smerber.
The word circulating in the trucking industry is that the Federal Highway Administration intends to cut the day down to 12 hours, which the CTA says would hold up commerce, lead to higher consumer prices, and, the association wrote in the Aug. 16 issue of its newsletter, harm the job future of "the one in every 12 Californians whose jobs are dependent upon trucking."
TA Vice President Warren Hoemann says giving truckers 14-hour days followed by 10-hour rest periods, would line up with a 24-hour, rather than 23-hour, day. The group also says it would be against federal requirements that trucks be outfitted with electronic "black box" recorders. Press-Enterprise (Riverside, Ca.) Online (08/21/99); Utley, Michael
This Top Lawyer Keeps On Trucking
Robert A. Boardman, senior vice president and general counsel of Navistar International, is responsible for 25 company lawyers who take care of the majority of transactional, regulatory, and litigation duties for the company. Navistar is always trying to outpace competitors with technology because the company thinks that is what will set it apart from others. Thus, the company's legal staff is expanding to address patent and intellectual-property concerns.Boardman believes in dealing "in a forthright manner" with employees to keep them loyal, even as rumors have flown that Volvo and DaimlerChrysler are trying to buy Navistar. He thinks "full and open disclosure" is also important when working with those outside the company, pointing to a July 1 consent decree showing that Navistar had beaten Environmental Protection Agency deadlines for better diesel emissions.
The agency thought Navistar and other companies might have been using defeat mechanisms to make their emissions' environmental effects seem different than they really were, and therefore said it might not grant certification to Navistar engines. Boardman returned to the idea of forthrightness when describing discussions with foreign regulators during Navistar's manufacturing expansion into Mexico and Brazil as "open and frank."
Due to Navistar's openness, he says, the Mexican government asked Navistar to help it put together truckmaker regulations. He has also been open with auto workers' unions during the foreign expansion and streamlining manufacturing at such sites as the one in Springfield, Ohio. Boardman professes that Navistar has not exported jobs. National Law Journal (08/23/99) Vol. 21, No. 52; P. B1
Chemical Spill Shuts Down Highway
Part of northbound Interstate 287 at the New Jersey Turnpike was closed for seven hours starting yesterday morning during the cleanup of toxic industrial-cleaning chemicals from a rolled-over truck, according to WABC-TV. ABC NewsWire (08/24/99)In Victory for UPS, EC Will Probe Subsidizing of Deliveries by German Post
The European Commission (EC) will look into accusations that the German postal service is breaking European Union competition law by using money from its letter-handling monopoly to pay for losses in its parcel delivery service. United Parcel Service has been fighting Deutsche Post over this issue for five years.
ccording to Deutsche Post opponents, the postal service gives parcel discounts as high as 60 percent, while the parcel division suffered 1998 losses totaling $206 million. EC officials plan to compare the government's handling of its business to that of private investors.
Deutsche Post contends that the EC spent five years mulling over the case and previously abandoned probes into possible subsidy and competition infractions. Since the EC has decided to look into the matter, UPS will probably give up its case against the EC in the European Court of Justice. If Deutsche Post is found to be in violation, it might have to make recompense of up to $9 billion to UPS and other private claimants against the postal service.
The investigation will be handled by Directorate General IV, whose spokesman Stefan Rating says resolution will not come before mid-2000. Others think it will be later, saying the Germans have shown themselves skilled at holding up investigations.
EC officials are also looking into Deutsche Post's acquisitions, which UPS spokesman Tad Segal points out are occurring as the postal service prepares to go public. DMNews International (08/16/99) Vol. 21, No. 31; P. 1
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