A.M. Executive Briefing - Dec. 8
This Morning's Headlines:
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White Announces CDL Changes in Continuing Crackdown on Abuses
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White has adopted new rules to fight abuses in a program enabling motor carriers, other companies, and governments below the state level to administer CDL exams. Applicants now must have instruction permits for two weeks or longer before third-party testing and must get an instruction permit from the secretary of state's office for the class of vehicle in which they will get their CDLs.In addition, drivers who are certified by third parties must have a training period of two weeks, third parties must let the secretary of state's office know if a driver ceases to be employed after an employment period under six months, and third parties cannot be in the program if the federal Transportation Department has rated them unsatisfactory.
Volvo Trucks will Lay Off 400 at Assembly Plant in Virginia
Volvo Trucks North America said it is to lay off 400 unionized workers at a factory in Dublin, Va., where it increased the payroll by 700 earlier in 1999 due to expectation of higher sales. However, curtailed Class A truck demand and the number of used vehicles available are the chief reasons for the reduction in employees, said spokesman Phil Romba, who added that the company will continue to expand the facility; Volvo thinks demand will go up in the future.The company's contract with the United Auto Workers says it must bring the laid-off employees back on the job if it increases its payroll, according to Local 3069 President Bill Burton, who said the majority of those who will be laid off have spent less than half a year with Volvo. The Dublin plant assembles every Volvo truck for the North American market. News & Record (Greensboro, N.C.) (12/07/99) P. B10; Krouse, Peter
Deputy Convicted in Civil Rights Deaths Enters Plea
Philadelphia, Miss., trucker Cecil Ray Price, 60, who was also an independent CDL tester, plead guilty in federal court after he sold a exam sheet with passing scores to a state highway patrol undercover agent for $100.Prosecutors are to ask for a decreased sentence at Price's Feb. 11 sentencing because he gave authorities a list of 30 people who had received passing grades but were not tested. The state Driver License Bureau director wrote to the 30, who now have to set up a Public Safety Department interview by Dec. 15.
[Editor's Note: Price, was convicted in 1967 on conspiracy charges in the deaths of three civil-rights workers. He was a sheriff's deputy at the time.] Associated Press (12/07/99)
Truck Full of Soup Recovered
Deputies from two Florida counties arrested two Miami and West Palm Beach men on grand theft auto and grand theft of property charges in the theft of a trailer containing $50,000 in Campbell's soup.According to spokesman Pete Kersey of the Indian River county sheriff's department, the trailer was stolen after its lawful driver, a Vero Beach resident, left it at a Vero Beach truck stop late Saturday. He had been hauling the soup from North Carolina to Miami when he stopped for the night.
On Monday, Kersey said authorities suspect the two men arrested "are part of a ring operating out of somewhere in Florida." Press Journal (Vero Beach, Fla.) (12/07/99) P. A3; Stephens, Henry A.
County to Resume Tickets for Parking Trucks
Thanks to the South Carolina Supreme Court's Monday ruling on a case regarding a Dorchester County ordinance on a trucker parking in a residential area, Berkeley County will resume enforcement of its residential truck-parking ordinance.The county will also take up proposals to raise the fine from $200 to $500 and let people other than nearby neighbors file complaints regarding trucks parked at lots under an acre in residential neighborhoods. When these changes came up before, they aroused controversy in Sangaree, where a number of truck drivers reside.
A lawyer for Sangaree truckers pointed to the close vote of 3 to 2 in the Supreme Court, while Sangaree's county councilman said there are both tractors and trailers all over the area, so resumption of enforcement will please many. Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier (12/07/99) P. B4; Wise, Warren
Rush Enterprises Completes Acquisition of Pressley Peterbilt
The Peterbilt and John Deere dealership operator Rush Enterprises said it has purchased Norm Pressley's Truck Center, picking up three southern California locations for roughly $4.5 million cash and a possible $700,000 more depending on performance."With the continued booming growth throughout the southwest coupled with the successful growth of Nafta-related businesses, this acquisition is a great geographical fit for Rush," said Chairman and CEO W. Marvin Rush. He said Rush has 32 dealerships around seven states covering the southwest region. Business Wire (12/07/99)
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