A.M. Executive Briefing - Dec. 30
The A.M. and P.M. Executive Briefings will not run Friday in observance of the New Year's holiday. The briefings will resume on Monday. Happy New Year!
This Morning's Headlines:
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California Names Oregon Trucker As its 'Highway Hero'
The California Highway Patrol has picked trucker Stephen Varhola as 1999 "Highway Hero" for Oregon.
New Mexico Grandmother Gets Off Welfare, Learns to Drive a Big Rig
Five women have lately been granted their CDLs thanks to a pilot welfare-to-work program in New Mexico. Two recent graduates are Debbie Frazier, a grandmother who arrived in Eunice, N.M., on a bus a few years ago without a home or employable skills, and single mother Norma Silva.The CDL program was begun with a state Commission on the Status of Women grant, which the state legislature gave to the commission to provide women with nontraditional job training. Frazier has already been hired for a trucking job with Merryman Construction.
Commission job developer Tia Bland urged other companies to help the welfare-to-work program succeed by hiring the other women. Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune Online (12/29/99) ; Rodriguez, Helena
Jury Awards $2 Million in 1996 Death
Four defendants including a South Bend, Ind., trucking company and trucker were found liable for a total of $2 million for an Oct. 1996 accident that killed a 16-year-old girl. A jury in Porter County, Ind., handed down that judgment this week on defendants Jesus A. Pedroza, of Valparaiso, who was driving the car in which the girl was riding; trucker Charles Geyer; Gerald Gundlach, owner of the truck; and Indian Trucking Co.The girl's parents were initially not going to sue since they were told Pedroza drove out in front of the truck after incorrectly judging how fast the truck was going. But they changed their minds due to the discovery that a post-crash inspection by state police found that the truck had bad brakes and other safety problems that should have kept it off the road.
The parents' lawyer said that the $2 million award is uncharacteristically high for an Indiana jury in such a case. Post-Tribune (Gary, Ind.) Online (12/29/99) ; Zorn, Tim
Navistar Develops a New Strategy, Changes its Brand
Although it is concluding what is likely a record year for sales, Navistar International is heading off a predicted slowdown by altering its product line, switching to the International brand name, and coming to new agreements with auto manufacturers.In a November interview with Automotive News reporter Michael Woodyard, CEO John Horne discussed the company's strategies and the future. International is working to keep its place in the heavy-duty truck market with the 1999 launch of a new version of the classic 466 engine, as well as new versions of the 9000 and 5000I.
It is also spending heavily on the next-generation vehicle, slated to begin production in April 2001, and is building an Alabama plant to make V-6 diesel engines. In 2004, the company will introduce a camless version of the 466 that will employ an "electronically-controlled" and "hydraulically-powered" fuel system, he said. The company has reached a deal to make V-6 diesel engines for Ford, and the two companies have had to consider such issues as the future change in emissions levels because one program runs through 2012.
Horne dismissed others' statements that diesel engines need to be eliminated due to unhealthy emissions. He cited low-emissions engines using low-sulfur diesel and "continuous regenerative tracks." Automotive News (12/27/99) No. 5854; P. 22
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