A.M. Executive Briefing - Jan. 5
This Morning's Headlines:
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UPS Makes Deals to Get Into Online Grocery Field
Four players in the budding Internet grocery field have licensed logistics software from Roadnet Technologies, a subsidiary of United Parcel Service.A UPS spokesman said the agreements with Homegrocer.com, Albertsons.com, GroceryWorks.com, and Streamline.com are only for the software and not for UPS delivery. But the company has said it is looking into creating a delivery service oriented toward e-commerce, and the UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund has put money into the network-building firm Highpoint Systems.
Prospect of More Trucks Stirs Up Port's Neighbors
Although the Virginia state port in Norfolk wants to become the top East Coast port, the goal faces opposition from city residents and businesses who went before the city council Tuesday to protest the coming rise in Hampton Boulevard truck traffic.The Norfolk International Terminal's plan to open a second entrance will put as many as 800 extra trucks daily on parts of Hampton Boulevard starting next month, and the port wants the city to allow two traffic signals to be placed at the new entrance. This request was at issue Tuesday as port and maritime officials squared off against the neighborhood residents and small businesses before the council.
Two potential problems facing the port interests are the council's increased orientation toward neighborhood interests and the city's desire for more state money to make up for the adverse effects of the port. Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, and Warren County currently get about $600,000 a year in total from the state, but together they are requesting $4.8 million during the next session of the state legislature. But the truck traffic will rise whether or not the council allows the traffic signals, said Virginia International Terminals assistant director Richard N. Knapp.
Although a roadway directly linking Interstate 564 to the port and bypassing Hampton Boulevard is in the works, truck-traffic opponents do not want to wait the five years it could take before that road is built. Norfolk Virginian-Pilot Online (01/05/00) ; Glass, Jon
Renault Confirms Talks With Samsung
Renault said it entered discussions last week on a "possible acquisition of all or part of Samsung Motors' operating assets." While the talks are solely about automobiles, the chairman of Renault's truck unit Renault VI said in December that the truck unit had been in discussions with Samsung and Daewoo. Thus, a Korean truck deal may be in the cards for Renault as well.The current acquisition talks, which will likely go on for two or three months, would allow the alliance between Renault and Nissan to widen its Asian base and get "a privileged access to the Korean market," Renault said. Financial Times (01/05/00) P. 26; Owen, David
National Commerce Bancorp Buys FleetOne
National Commerce Bancorporation said it will be able to extend fuel cards and merchant processing to local fleets in addition to over-the-road operations thanks to the acquisition of FleetOne by the NCBC subsidiary TransPlatinum Service. TransPlatinum traditionally serves Class 7 and 8 fleets, while FleetOne's customers were Class 1 through Class 6 fleets. Nine-tenths of those do not have fuel-card and transaction-processing contracts, according to Lewis Holland, vice chairman and CFO at NCBC. Heavy Duty Trucking Online (01/05/00)Frozen Food Express Plans to Cut 150 Jobs
Frozen Food Express Industries, in restructuring to reduce overhead and become profitable again, intends to reduce its payroll by 150. Roughly $2.5 million in restructuring costs are part of an $8.5 million after-tax charge the Dallas-based perishable-goods carrier is taking for the fourth quarter. A 20%-plus reduction in the trailer fleet is also part of the restructuring plan. Fort Worth Star-Telegram (01/04/00) P. 2, Business SectionFormer License Manager Sentenced
The number of people given prison sentences in the federal probe of the Illinois CDL scandal rose to eight Tuesday as onetime McCook licensing site manager Marion Seibel was given 18 months in prison and two years probation.Federal District Judge Joan Gottschall gave Seibel, 62, less than the maximum 33-month prison sentence because prosecutors said Seibel had assisted in the federal probe of the scandal.
Licenses were issued by Seibel in exchange for about $82,000 worth of contributions to then-Illinois Secretary of State George Ryan's gubernatorial campaign. Ryan, now governor, has denied any knowledge of the bribery. Current Secretary of State Jesse White would now like to shut down the scandal-soaked McCook site.
Seibel entered a guilty plea on racketeering charges in July. Chicago Sun-Times Online (01/04/00) ; Robinson, Mike
Westport Announces First U.S. Customer for Low Emissions Truck Project
The British Columbia company Westport Innovations has signed up Raley's, a grocery chain with locations in California and Nevada, as the first U.S. customer for its natural-gas fueling system. Westport and Cummins Engine are outfitting three trucks with Cummins ISX engines using the emissions-cutting High Pressure Direct Injection system. Raley's will get one of the trucks, which it will use in the Sacramento, Calif., area, while another is going to the British Columbia fleet operator Bobell Group and the third will be retained by Westport. The American Lung Association honored Raley's in 1997 after it replaced a quarter of its fleet with natural gas-fueled vehicles, becoming the first California company to reach that mark. Canada NewsWire (01/04/00)© copyright 2000 INFORMATION, INC. Terms of Service
