P.M. Executive Briefing - July 30
This Afternoon's Headlines:
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Shippers Urged to Help in Speeding US-Mexico Truck Crossings
James R. Giermanski, a Texas A&M transport specialist, says shippers should take a role in controlling customs brokers and forwarders that are blamed for congestion at the Laredo border crossing along the Texas-Mexico line.The brokers and forwarders contribute to inefficient traffic flow, since so much of the freight they handle is delayed crossing the border until late in the day.
New connections, a trucks-only bridge, and federal border sites should be in place to ease the congestion by April of next year. Some people are already talking about building another bridge in Laredo.
However, U.S. Customs South Texas field operations director Maria Reba says that before doing more construction, "we need to utilize our bridges to full capacity."
Reba points out that much of the truck traffic in Laredo is not carrying cargo, adding that June saw 25,288 empty trailers and 35,377 deadheading tractors crossing the two bridges into Laredo from Mexico.
Tom Wade of the Laredo Transport Association urges Customs hours be extended around the clock. That is not likely to happen unless traders commit to sending certain amounts of trucks.
Giermanski concludes that the city could discourage the heavy traffic flows at certain times of the day by increasing highway tolls during those times.
According to Laredo City Manager Florencio Pena, the city considered the option, but was discouraged by a failed similar toll plan Mexico tried out earlier in the decade. Journal of Commerce Online (07/30/99); Hall, Kevin G.
Allied Waste Is Selling Some Operations to the Public
Allied Waste is selling some of its landfill businesses, transfer stations and container-hauling lines to Republic Services for $230 million. The sale is part of the federal antitrust deal regarding the planned Allied-Browning Ferris Industries merger. New York Times (07/30/99) P. C4Trucker Eyes Lexington Freight Hub, Training Site Could Bring 100 Jobs to Lexington County
Annett Holdings of Des Moines, Iowa, intends to build a freight hub and training site on 20 to 30 acres in Lexington County, S.C., for its several truck divisions.Lawyer Gary Morris, who represents Annett, expects the site to qualify for a property tax incentive with a $5 million threshold.
ometime in the next month, Morris will complete a report for the county council giving the figures for the investment and the "more than 100 jobs" he says will be created.
County council chairman Bill Banning hopes Annett will choose to locate in Lexington County, where the company already operates a site for its SouthPort Carriers unit. The State (South Carolina) Online (07/29/99); Meadows, Andrew
Still Battling
Although the Teamsters’ protest against Overnite Transportation was ended by union President James P. Hoffa, the union intends to spend the summer trying to dissuade shippers from contracting with Overnite.espite the union’s inability to shut down the carrier completely, there are new threats of work stoppages at all of the company’s 166 terminals.
Overnite Chief Executive Officer Leo H. Suggs says the Teamsters have not had much effect on the company, although he calls the company's strike contingency plan "very expensive."
The company did have 2.8% lower freight flows for the week of the protest compared to the same week in 1999. However, the following week saw flows 4.5% higher than the year-ago period.
Overnite’s depiction of the Teamsters’ effect is much less rosy in the company’s $25 million lawsuit against the union, which the Teamsters see as a sign of victory. Overnite explains that when it filed the lawsuit, it was simply trying to get a court to stop the picketers in Memphis.
The Teamsters are also crowing about a ruling from the National Labor Relations Board that forced Overnite to negotiate contracts at seven terminals where the Teamsters lost elections in 1995. The NLRB administrative law judge decided that Overnite had refused to bargain, altered certain workers' employment provisions, and improperly influenced the elections by hinting it would shut down terminals with the potential to be unionized.
Overnite says it will ignore the order and appeal. Spokesman Ira Rosenfeld vows the company will win "if not before the full NLRB, then before the U.S. Court of Appeals." Traffic World (07/26/99) Vol. 4, No. 259, P. 33; Schulz, John D.
Guarantees Galore
Guaranteed service is on the rise from less-than-truckload carriers.Starting Monday, Consolidated Freightways shippers desiring guaranteed service -- but unwilling to pay the fee for CF’s top-of-the-line PrimeTime service -- will be able to schedule deliveries within half a day using the new SureTime. There is a 25% surcharge for the service, which guarantees morning deliveries before noon or afternoon deliveries before 5 p.m. or the delivery’s free.
CF is instituting SureTime both to capitalize on the increase in just-in-time shipping and to distinguish itself from smaller LTL competitors.
Pat Blake, the company president, has set a goal to make an extra $20 million on the service by year’s end.
CF is not the only LTL carrier to offer guaranteed services. SureTime is similar to Roadway Express’ Guaranteed Day Delivery, which along with the guaranteed on-time Time Critical and the one-hour-window Precision Delivery makes up Roadway’s three service tiers.
Yellow Freight System has created the guaranteed Definite Delivery service, which is just a step down from the expedited Exact Express service. Definite Delivery shipments are continually tracked by Yellow, enabling it to notify customers of the shipments’ status.
Yellow has also cut many of its runs from three to two days without raising rates.
Con-Way Transportation Services, which runs three regional LTL lines, now offers three-day cross-country service thanks to streamlining its line-haul system.
Scott Flower of PaineWebber says the service has greatly increased Con-Way’s revenue. Business Geographics (07/99) Vol. 7, No. 7, P. 30
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