P.M. Executive Briefing - July 13

Better Information For Shippers, Carriers Behind FreightWise-NTE Deal

The move gives FreightWise customers, who will exchange intermodal freight and capacity online beginning later this summer, access to the NTE database. NTE is an exchange designed for trucking companies and their customers. The deal will let shippers post freight for both trains and trucks by going to either the NTE or FreightWise sites.

The idea behind both exchanges is to give shippers access to capacity at affordable rates, while making carriers aware of available freight that they might otherwise have missed out on.

Under the deal between NTE and FreightWise, the two companies will operate separately and will only link to each other's sites, said NTE spokesman Steve Ford. But exchanges like NTE will be integrating at a rapid rate with other's that can offer different types of services to international customers in all modes, Ford said. The marketing agreement with FreightWise could be the early stages of just that sort of integration, he said.

"The wave of the future lies in integration," said James Davidson, NTE's president. "Partnering with FreightWise, with its leadership in intermodal truckload and rail will allow us to present richer-commerce solutions to a broader transportation community," he said.

NTE, based in Downers Grove, Ill., has been operating since 1995. FreightWise is based in Fort Worth, Texas and will launch publicly later this summer. Daniel Whitten, Transport Topics

Transportation Summit Called For in Connecticut

The summit, Strategic Solutions: From Gridlock to Growth, will bring together business and education leaders to examine the problems facing transportation in Connecticut.

Michael Riley, president of the Motor Transport Association of Connecticut, said he has been assured the trucking industry will be involved in the summit. One area to be examined will be congestion and truck safety on the state's highways, which Riley feels is an area that needs to be addressed.

"The highway system in Connecticut doesn't work," he said. Interstates 91, 84 and particularly 95 are frequently overcrowded.

In the time prior to the summit, work groups will examine and make recommendations on various areas of transportation policy. The state government will use these recommendations for legislation in next year's session.

Connecticut business leaders Michael J. Critelli and R. Nelson "Oz" Griebel were named honorary co-chairmen of the summit. Jennifer Botchie, Transport Topics

Truck Repossessions Continue To Mount

The high cost for diesel fuel was given most of the blame for what is now an inventory glut on the used-truck market. That has resulted in a 30% drop in heavy-duty truck prices, an official from the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association told the Journal and Constitution. It means many owner-operators owe more on their loans than their trucks are worth.

Conseco reported that 6-7% of the trucks it has finance have been repossessed or returned, which is quadruple the normal level. Transport Topics

Record Setting Run For Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Winner

Running a Freightliner Century Class, Ryan finished the 12.42-mile course in 13:39.02, breaking his 1998 record-setting time by almost 51 seconds.

Ryan, who also won the Silverstone Gold Rush in Queenstown, New Zealand in April, is trying to establish semi-truck racing in the U.S. He also competes in a land speed-racing Freightliner and is aiming to break the Class 8 land speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats later this summer.

First held in 1916, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is the second-oldest motorsports race in the U.S., after the Indianapolis 500. The course starts at 9,402 feet and climbs through 156 turns to the summit at 14,110 feet. This year's race had 19 categories including sprint cars and motorcycles. Transport Topics

North Carolina Reports 'Booze It And Lose It' Arrest Results

The campaign, aimed at reducing impaired driving across the state, is conducted through 842 statewide checkpoints, random patrols and three "BATmobiles" – mobile blood alcohol testing units.

Jill Lucas, spokeswoman for the safety program, said a DWI citation written in Iredell County was the only one issued to a commercial motor vehicle during the first week of the campaign.

North Carolina's new DWI laws went into effect July 1 and:

• Reduced the legal alcohol concentration (AC) from 0.08 to 0.04 for persons who have been convicted of one DWI and have had their license reinstated.
• Reduced the legal AC from 0.04 to 0.00 for persons who have been convicted of a second DWI and have had their license reinstated.
• Required the installation of an ignition-interlock system in the vehicle of a person who has been convicted of having an AC of 0.16 or greater.

New FleetPride Locations Announced

With these new locations and the recently-acquired Southwest Virginia Truck Parts, Oklahoma Truck Supply and Fleet Parts Warehouse, FleetPride now has more than 170 locations in 33 states.

FleetPride is an aftermarket distributor of heavy-duty truck parts. The company plans to open additional locations and expand several existing locations in the upcoming months. Transport Topics

Tosco Sees Newly Purchased Refinery Ideal For Diesel Production

The 250,000-barrel per day refinery is best suited to produce cleaner gasoline and diesel fuel, Tosco's chairman told Reuters. The purchase, however, would result in job cuts at the refinery, which employs about 300 workers.

This is the latest in a string of transactions by Tosco, considered one of the leading U.S. independent refining and marketing companies. Last week Tosco sold its Avon refinery in California to Ultramar Diamond Shamrock Corp. for $800 million. Earlier this year Tosco agreed to but a 295,000 barrel per day refinery in Illinois from Equilon Enterprises and also bought more than 1,700 service stations in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states from Exxon Mobil Corp. Transport Topics