Technology Briefs - Jan. 17 - Jan. 23
- Ceridian Posts Lower 4Q Earnings
- Motorola Posts First 12-Month Loss in 71 Years
- Sirius Ready to Compete With Radio Rival
- UPS E-mailed Shipping Labels Used for Returns
- Airports to Buy Fingerprint Scanners
- Missouri Near Deal for PrePass
- Nextel Online Users Can Now Track FedEx Packages
- Motorola Posts First 12-Month Loss in 71 Years
Ceridian Posts Lower 4Q Earnings
Ceridian Corp. -- parent of the Comdata unit that serves the trucking industry -- said Wednesday it earned 15 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2001, down from 23 cents a year earlier.That works out to net earnings of $22.8 million in the latest period, compared with $34.3 million in the final quarter of 2000.
Comdata is a major processor and issuer of credit cards, debit cards and stored value cards such as for diesel fuel, especially for the trucking industry.
For all of 2001, Ceridian earned $54.7 million, or 37 cents per share, down from $100.2 million or 68 cents a share in the previous year. Transport Topics
Motorola Posts First 12-Month Loss in 71 Years
Citing a 25% drop in fourth-quarter sales, Motorola Inc. Tuesday posted its first money-losing 12-month period in 71 years, CBS Marketwatch said.The Schaumberg, Ill.-based company manufacturers cellular phone and other communications equipment, much of which is utilized by truckers. It said it lost $1.2 billion, or 55 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, compared with net income of $135 million, or 6 cents a share, in the corresponding period the year before.
Excluding restructuring and other charges, the company said in its report, continuing operations for latest four quarters lost $90 million, or 4 cents a share, on sales of $7.3 billion. That is down from 9.8 billion during the preceding 12-month period.
The company’s statement predicted a return to profitability in the second half of 2002, Marketwatch said. Transport Topics
Sirius Ready to Compete With Radio Rival
Sirius Satellite Radio announced Jan. 7 that its new broadcasting service would be available to customers in three phases beginning Feb. 14, with coast-to-coast coverage complete during the third quarter.Sirius is competing with XM Satellite Radio, already in operation, to build an audience of truck drivers and other subscribers interested in receiving more variety and audio fidelity from a national rather than local broadcasting source. A Sirius subscription costs $13 per month, while XM charges $10.
Houston, Phoenix, Denver and Jackson, Miss., will the be the first markets in which retailers will sell special Sirius compatible radio. Sirius will subsequently expand the southwest, southern and central regions of the country. Once drivers have the new radios in their vehicles, the broadcaster’s 60 music and 40 sports, talk and entertainment channels will be available without regard to location.
To raise money to cover operational and marketing expenses associated with the launch of the new radio service, Sirius said it will sell 16 million shares of its common stock at $9.85 per share, with an option to sell 2.4 million additional shares. Eric Kulisch
UPS E-mailed Shipping Labels Used for Returns
United Parcel Service now enables business to e-mail shipping labels directly to customers who need to return merchandise, the world’s largest package delivery company announced Dec. 26.The Electronic Return Label is available to businesses that use UPS OnLine WorldShip software. When customers receive the e-mail, they simply click on a link to retrieve the label, print it on a regular sheet of paper and paste it to the package.
The e-mail also gives the customer a link to listings and maps of the nearest UPS drop-off location, a tracking number to check the status of the package and a receipt.
The latest technological upgrade brings to eight the number of return options offered by UPS. Businesses also can choose several types of pre-printed labels that can be sent directly to their customers. Other services involve dispatching a UPS driver to a customer’s location to retrieve the package. At 75 cents per transaction, the Electronic Return Label is the cheapest return option offered by the company. Transport Topics
Airports to Buy Fingerprint Scanners
Identix Inc. and Visionics Corp., in a series of press releases starting in December, separately announced new orders for their fingerprint scanning technologies to help several U.S. airports conduct employee background checks.The orders came in the wake of aviation security legislation signed into law late last year that mandates criminal history background checks for all airport employees, including truck drivers, with access to secure areas.
Identix Inc., Los Gatos, Calif., said that 13 airports have ordered its Live Scan TouchPrint 2000 Applicant Fingerprint Systems, bringing the total number of airports Identix serves to 28. The company also said that San Francisco International Airport ordered another fingerprint system to help process more than 13,000 employees. The systems cost between $20,000 and $40,000 depending on optional functions, Valerie Lyons, Identix executive vice president, told a Senate hearing last year.
Visionics, which also develops facial recognition systems, said it received orders totaling $350,000 in value for nine FingerPrinter CMS live scan systems from seven airports.
The Identix and Visionics systems capture prints of all 10 fingers of applicants and transmit the images to the Office of Personnel Management, which in turn submits the images for search against the FBI’s automated fingerprint database. The results are transmitted confidentially back to the employer. Eric Kulisch
Missouri Near Deal for PrePass
The Missouri Department of Transportation and PrePass are close to an agreement to install a sensor system in 19 locations throughout the state that would allow truckers to be electronically pre-screened as they approach roadside scales, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Monday.State highway officials said the system will help cut dangerous congestion at busy scales. The article also said that trucking believes it will help operators with good safety records save valuable time and fuel expense.
An estimated 190,000 trucks are registered nationwide to use the system. A total of 23 other states are already using PrePass. Transport Topics
Nextel Online Users Can Now Track FedEx Packages
FedEx Corp. said Wednesday that FedEx Express and FedEx Ground customers can now view the shipping status of their packages if they are subscribers to Nextel Online, a wireless service from Nextel Communications Inc.The Memphis, Tenn.-based company also said that subscribers can use Nextel to help them find the closest FedEx drop-off points.
Nextel Online has an estimated domestic base of 1.7 million subscribers, FedEx said.
FedEx is ranked No. 2 on the Transport Topics 100 list. Transport Topics
(Click here for the full press release.)
