A.M. Executive Briefing - April 25
This Morning's Headlines:
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Carriers Concerned About Disclosure
A new report from Charles Beard of KPMG indicates that while shippers want single online transportation services with total supply-chain visibility, transportation companies are concerned about sharing data with competing firms. But unless a single company can handle a shipment along its entire route, the carriers will have to come around on the issue due to customer demands, he said.Carriers are also beginning to feel the effect of rate-shopping by shippers, and there is concern that auctions will cause transportation services to be sold merely on price. This brings change to "an industry that's largely built on relationships and performance," he said, but shipper-carrier relationships will remain important and the Internet will help make them work.
Seven Regional Fleets Merge
RoadLink USA will become a national firm by merging with seven companies from Illinois, Pennsylvania, California, Massachusetts and Ohio: Atlas Intermodal Trucking Services, Eastern America Transport and Warehousing, F-A-R Transportation Services, GPS Transportation, Hawk Pacific, Kellaway Intermodal and Distribution Systems, and Whitacre Trucking.The merger with the seven firms, which will keep their brands and continue to operate separately, gives RoadLink USA some 1,500 drivers and trucks; further additions to the network are planned. Heavy Duty Trucking Online (04/25/00)
CP Sees Merger in Future
David O'Brien, chairman of Canadian Pacific, told reporters Thursday that the company would be willing to merge with a U.S. railroad "if that's the way the industry is going to go." Should the North American rail industry consolidate to two large railroads, CP would want to be part of one, he said; his comments followed the company's annual meeting.Responding to speculation about the conglomerate divesting parts of its holdings, which include firms in such industries as hotels, coal, oil, and gas, but O'Brien said there is no pressure to sell.
He noted the company's hefty cash flow and its plans to grow some businesses, particularly hotels, on an international level, and he downplayed analysts' claims that, if the businesses were separated, their stock values would total more than CP's present trading price. Journal of Commerce (04/25/00) P. 12
Company Gives Big Rig Drivers a Big Break
Highway Driver Leasing, of Quincy, Mass., an 18-year-old company run by women, treats the drivers that it leases to companies "like human beings," says Linda Greenberg, company founder and president.The company does not send drivers to firms whose equipment is poor or to jobs involving heavy lifting, will change any assignments for drivers unhappy with the job where they've been placed, and even sends birthday cards to the drivers. Customers can hire the driver full-time after three months.
The company, which has other offices in Connecticut and Rhode Island, is continually hiring and expects to add 70 truckers. Boston Herald (04/24/00) P. 45; Nissman, Cara
M'bishi Motors to Cut Debts in Truck, Bus Business to 270 B. Yen
Mitsubishi Motors, which has linked its truck operations with Volvo and its passenger-vehicle business with DaimlerChrysler, announced Monday its intention to reduce the interest-bearing debts of its truck and bus unit.Last March ended with the division's debt at about 400 billion yen; by March of 2003 the company plans to cut that to about 270 billion yen. Truck and bus sales for the fiscal year that ends March 2003 are expected to be 600 billion yen, a 100 billion yen improvement over estimates for the most recent fiscal year. Jiji Press Ticker Service (04/24/00)
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