A.M. Executive Briefing - Feb. 18
In observance of the President's Day holiday, the A.M. and P.M. briefings will not run on Monday. They will return on Tuesday.
This Morning's Headlines:
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FedEx to Purchase Tower, Subsidiary
FedEx will purchase major U.S. customs broker Tower Group International, along with its subsidiary in Canada, furthering consolidation in international transportation as companies endeavor to provide comprehensive service to a rising amount of companies with global operations.
FedEx vice president of global trade services Gerald P. Leary will be Tower's president and COO; Kenneth R. Masterston will be Tower's chairman while remaining FedEx executive vice president, general counsel, and secretary; current Tower President Michael Hehir will stay at McGraw-Hill. Journal of Commerce Online (02/18/00); Armbruster, William
Trucking Firms Seek Plan to Get Drivers Back to Work
A trucking companies' organization, the Florida Independent Truckers Association, has given striking south Florida port truckers a proposal to end the strike; the strikers' group Support Trucking Group will soon meet to consider it. Neither side gave details of the proposal.The main issue in the independent drivers' strike is the requirement that they buy insurance from their companies rather than saving money by shopping around. The companies say the current setups ensures that payments are made and coverage is standard.
According to licensed broker Jan Cahill, of the importer Unisa, one trucker stopped making pickups at the Port of Miami Wednesday because a lead weight was thrown through his driver's-side window. Miami Herald (2/18/00) ; Fields, Gregg; Whitefield, Mimi
Gas Tax Backers Sue Auto Club Over Radio Ads
Fair Funding, the group backing the Oregon ballot measure that would raise the gas tax and institute a diesel tax while scrapping the weight-mile tax, has sued the American Automobile Association, saying AAA's radio ads incorrectly claim that out-of-state trucking companies would get "huge" reductions in taxes.The suit requests an injunction ordering a retraction from AAA, in addition to damages; a state election law bars "false statement[s] of material fact" regarding measures and candidates. AAA attorney Bruce Berning wrote to James Brown, the lawyer who filed the suit, saying the statements in the ads are correct.
The auto club's Oregon-Idaho chapter president, Roger Graybeal, charged that Fair Funding is using the suit to garner publicity. Fair Funding includes trucking associations and other industry, labor, and government organizations. Associated Press (02/17/00); Beggs, Charles E.
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Debate on Weight Limits Inspires Judicial Sarcasm
Overturning a lower court decision, the Illinois Supreme Court Thursday upheld the state's truck-weight law; the lower court judge said the law was too complicated for truckers to ensure compliance and did not have a consistent "tone."The majority decision by Chief Justice Moses Harrison II sarcastically called the concern about tone "a novel legal notion" and said it was more appropriate for literary criticism. He also said a judge should not "lightly or cavalierly declare unconstitutional" a legislatively passed law.
However, a dissent from Justice James Heiple agreed that the law was difficult to comprehend and published its entire 12 pages for other people to examine its clarity. Associated Press (02/17/00)
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