P.M. Executive Briefing - August 6
This Afternoon's Headlines:
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Trucking Company President Accused of Theft
MBM Trucking President Patrick Murray was charged Wednesday with theft, falsification, and tampering with records.Murray gave the city $81,000 worth of invoices last year for truck-driver training for residents of empowerment zones, while police investigators say MBM did not perform that much training and perhaps did not perform any training at all, says Bill Mason, the prosecutor for Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
City attorneys have also sued MBM for breach of contractand fraud. Cleveland Live Online (08/06/99)
Consolidated Delivery Posts Jump in Profit
Consolidated Delivery & Logistics posted a 56% gain in second-quarter profit to $735,000, with revenue up 25% to $55.8 million. Chief Executive Officer Albert van Ness Jr. credited the better performance to the company's purchases of Gold Wings, Skycab, Westwind Express, and Metro Parcel Services this year. CD&L will soon reveal another takeover deal. Journal of Commerce (08/06/99) P. 13Milwaukee Area Truck Crashes Soar
Although the rate of truck crashes across Wisconsin did not change much between 1997 and 1998, the percentage jumped 17% in those years in Milwaukee County.Last year, truck crashes made up 13% of freeway crashes in Milwaukee County and 7% statewide. Statewide, there was a 4% rise in accidents overall, while just one out of seven highway-crash fatalities involved trucks.
According to trucking-industry sources, statistics published by the federal government fault car drivers with 71% of deadly accidents between trucks and cars. Capital Times Online (08/05/99)
25 HPD Officers Pass Course to do Truck Inspections
Houston Police Chief C.O. Bradford announced that 25 police officers will take a refresher course next week to qualify as Level 1 truck inspectors.uch a designation will enable the officers to look over the undercarriages and mechanical systems of trucks, as well as inspect driver logs.
These 25 officers, who initially took the two-week Level 1 course three years ago, will eventually be joined by 15 more who will take the course in September.
Bradford decided to go along with calls for Level 1 inspections during the general outcry over a number of fatal truck crashes, despite the fact that mechanical problems were not faulted in the wrecks. Houston Chronicle (08/05/99) P. 35A
Minister Eyes Extra Powers
The plan by Transport Minister Guy Chevrette to allow Quebec highway inspectors more power to levy criminal charges against dangerous drivers might lessen the current difficulties between truckers and inspectors.Inspectors have not had as much authority as federal police since the inspectors unanimously voted to leave Surete du Quebec in 1990. This reduced power has opened them up to 10 criminal complaints from truckers in the last year.
While the province has seen truck-crash rates dropping, the public's interest in safety rules increased after four people died and 11 were injured in a July 24 crash near Saint-Michel-de-Bellechasse.
Trucker-union spokesman John David Duncan says employer orders often convince truckers they have to break the law, adding, "Ask any trucker if he wants to be on the road with an overloaded truck or brakes that don't work."
Duncan recommended that the 125 highway agents the province intends to hire be sent to trucking companies to keep truckers from being put in such positions.
Truckers generally seem to support the idea of extra inspectors but dislike plans to cut truck speed limits to 90 km/h (55.8 mph).
The government put together a group to study the province's commercial-vehicle inspections after a deadly 1997 bus crash. The group's 14 suggested reforms will be announced next week. Chevrette says he probably won't follow coroner Luc Malouin's recommendation that the inspectors be returned to Surete du Quebec. Montreal Gazette Online (08/05/99); Gordon, Sean; Davenport, Jane
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