A.M. Executive Briefing - Dec. 20
This Morning's Headlines:
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Trucking Alliance President Campaigns for Better Roads
Canadian Trucking Alliance chairman Dan Einwechter, who is also president and CEO of Ontario-based Challenger Motor Freight, says highways in the United States are much better for his truckers to use than Canadian highways are.The higher-population United States offers towns that are closer together and more places for drivers to stop, and they are smoother with fewer potholes than Canadian roads. Not enough Canadian highways have more than two lanes, and the country's roads also have soft shoulders, he says.
Japan's Troubled Nissan Diesel Wants $2 Billion Loan: Report
According to Jiji Press news agency, the struggling Nissan Diesel Motor requested a loan of as much as 200 billion yen, or $2 billion, from its four top creditors. A spokesman would not say whether the figure was accurate but acknowledged "that we are discussing assistance measures to mitigate credit concerns." At September's close, Nissan Diesel had 168.9 billion yen in interest-bearing debt, he said. Agence France Presse (12/20/99)Sales in Latin America are Up Nearly 30% for Year, UPS Says
Even though Latin America is suffering from economic difficulties, United Parcel Service said it has seen a 30% growth in the region this year. The company added routes thanks to its Challenge Air acquisition. Its performance in Brazil, where the company has its Mercosur-region cargo hub was "pretty much across the average," according to Raul Echeverria, UPS director of Latin American operations, service parts logistics. Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay are also part of Mercosur.The Brazilian performance was in spite of the recession there, and Echeverria said UPS is "expanding our service offering into Brazil" and is focused on making the country "a standardized UPS operation."
Although other companies have charged that UPS gained a bigger share of the Latin American market by starting a rate war, executives at UPS said that was untrue. Even though value limits have been raised for courier shipments in Brazil, couriers face problems due to duties, which are sometimes more than four-fifths of what the shipments are worth. Journal of Commerce (12/20/99) P. 16; Ogier, Thierry
Praise Rolls In for Safe Truck School
The New Orleans truck-driving and technicians' school Transport Safe Training Center lately held a party for graduates that signified the beginning of the alumni association. In the past few years, the school has graduated over 500 people, most of them from the area, and it received the "Award for Consistent Superior Performance" from the Orleans Private Industry Council for its job-placement rate of up to 98%."The school's success in training and placing urban residents from diverse ethnic and gender backgrounds in good-paying jobs is unique within the trucking industry," said the school's project oordinator, Eileen O'Malley. Many of the party attendees were thankful for the opportunity to make better wages by becoming truck drivers.
According to O'Malley, the school was among the earliest U.S. driving schools to use a full-mission truck simulator. New Orleans Times-Picayune (12/19/99) P. 1C; Miller, Robert
UPS Poised To Set New Records Thanks to Online Shoppers
United Parcel Service on Friday predicted making 18 million deliveries, beating its daily average of 12.5 million and falling a bit short of the 18.1 million record established in 1994. Although UPS requested after it set that record that customers send their holiday shipments ahead of time, online retailing has foiled that plan. On Friday, UPS driver Scott Johnson said, "About half the packages have some sort of dot-com on them." In 1998 roughly 55% of e-businesses shipped via UPS.FedEx anticipates handling 4.5 million shipments on its peak day, Wednesday, up from the 4.2 million peak in 1998. Spokeswoman Carla Boyd said she could not "attribute it exactly to the Internet, but I'm sure that plays a large part." Seventy percent of orders to FedEx are made with FedEx software or with the Internet, she said. Associated Press (12/18/99) ; Pilcher, James
Deal Trumps Jury Award in Fatal Crash
According to WJAC-TV in Johnstown, Pa., the New Jersey-based carrier National Freight will pay $3 million in an out-of court settlement to survivors of the four people who died in a February 1994 accident on a mountainous road in Cambria County, Pa.On Friday, a county common pleas court jury unaware of the settlement ordered the state Transportation Department to pay $571,250 and National Freight to pay $1.7 million to the survivors. According to the terms of the settlement, the survivors will not attempt to get any of National Freight's portion of the jury award and will give National Freight 80% of the PennDOT's sum.
On the day of the wreck, Route 22 was suddenly hit with blinding snow, leading to accidents. The driver of a National Freight truck crashed into a minivan, killing four people inside. National Freight blamed PennDOT for the crash, saying the road was not good enough for winter conditions, while the department said the trucker was at fault. The trucker estimated that he had been going up to 35 mph before the accident, while an expert witness from PennDOT said the truck's speed was over 50 mph. Both the carrier and the department were faulted by the plaintiffs.
Twenty-four more drivers that were involved in the accident have also settled with the survivors, who as a result will get a total of $100,000. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (12/18/99) P. A-11; Gibb, Tom
Court Ruling Paves Way for 12-Lane Bridge
Rejecting a lower court's decision, a U.S. Appeals Court panel on Friday approved construction of a 12-lane replacement for the Woodrow Wilson Bridge on Interstate 95 near Washington, D.C. The 38-year-old six-lane span now carries much more than its planned capacity, and engineers say by 2004 it would not be able to handle heavy trucks anymore.Backers are trying to get an additional $600 million from the federal government, which has already given $900 million in addition to the $200 million apiece from Virginia and Maryland, the two states at each end of the bridge.
The federal government was sued by a local group that wanted a 10-lane bridge instead; the group might appeal the latest decision. In April, the lower court judge called for lengthy environmental testing and said there was not enough consideration of the 10-lane option. Associated Press (12/18/99
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