A.M. Executive Briefing - Mar. 17
This Morning's Headlines:
ul>
Arkansas Best Corp. Sees Credit Rating Rise
Standard & Poor's has upgraded Arkansas Best's corporate credit rating to an investment-grade rating of triple-B-minus, and gave the same rating to Arkansas Best's $250 million revolving credit facility. Arkansas Best had had a noninvestment grade rating of double-B-plus since last October.The rating agency pointed to the healthy performance and 91.6% operating ratio of ABF Freight System, which Standard & Poor's analyst Daniel Zhu said has not been impacted by fuel costs and the trucker shortage as much as other truckload carriers. Arkansas Best's rising operating performance in the last three years and its reductions in debt have reduced the likelihood of defaulting, Zhu said. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Online (03/17/00); Courteau, Sarah L.
New York's Maher Terminals Adds Two Hours to Gate Time
Responding to rising port volume, Maher Terminals has pushed back its gate closing time to 6 p.m. from 4 p.m. and will increase the amount of employees and truck lanes. Other Port of New York and New Jersey terminals are mulling longer hours and are putting in new equipment as well.Maher opens at 6 a.m. on weekdays, while most New York and New Jersey terminals open an hour later. Delays at the ports have been highlighted by owner-operators' protests at the port and other U.S. locations. Journal of Commerce Online (03/17/00); Armbruster, William
2 States Revoke Truckers' Licenses
Eleven truck drivers in Massachusetts and North Carolina are having their licenses revoked and 114 in New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut will be called for retests due to suspicion that the truckers got Illinois CDLs through bribery then swapped them for other states' CDLs.Illinois is warning 14 states in all about truck drivers – 179 in all, 115 of them now New York residents – suspected of being licensed through the scam. Over 1,200 truck drivers have already been tested again in Illinois, and the federal Operation Safe Road investigation into the scam has netted 22 convictions of former Illinois secretary of state employees and others.
Of the 115 drivers in New York who were included in Illinois' warning, 102 have been given a March 22 deadline to set up new examinations; otherwise, their licenses will be revoked. Chicago Tribune (03/16/00) P. 1, Metro Chicago Section; Marx, Gary; Cohen, Laurie
EEOC Claims Roadway Discriminated by Race, Sex
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has accused Roadway Express of widespread discrimination in a 10-state area, saying the company would not hire female truckers or workers or give African American employees jobs in upper management or sales.The federal probe has gone on for years and became known to the public Wednesday after the carrier requested that a broad subpoena of employment records be blocked by a federal appeals court in Cincinnati. Officials say information about employees' race and sex is necessary for a systematic workplace review, but Roadway says it gave the government extensive and thorough hiring information in the 1990s and would be financially burdened by turning over additional data.
The EEOC, which has filed four charges against Roadway in Washington, said company workplaces in the part of the country in question were replete with "racial and sex-based harassment, intimidation, and insults" and that there was a "pattern and practice of race and sex discrimination." Cleveland Plain Dealer (03/16/00) P. 1C; Sloat, Bill
Trucker Fired on Near Hub of Overnite
Overnite Transportation driver Arthur Pierce said his truck was fired on between two and four times Tuesday as he drove from the company's Memphis hub. Two shots struck the passenger side of the truck, but Pierce was unhurt.The FBI and the Auto Cargo Task Force of the Memphis Police Department, which have been investigating a number of shootings they believe are related to the Teamsters strike of Overnite that began in October, are looking into the case. Memphis Commercial Appeal (03/16/00) P. B2; Conley, Chris
A Tight Squeeze
The number of overheight trucks stopped from entering three tunnels in Virginia's Hampton Roads area rose 47% between 1998 and 1999, said the state Transportation Department.The maximum truck height in Virginia is 13.5 feet, and all the tunnels in the area have sensors to detect overheight trucks, setting off warnings. Even so, some trucks get into the tunnels anyway, and some get stuck, including two in the Midtown Tunnel in 1998 and one in the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel the previous year.
In January 1998, a new ceiling in the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel was nearly complete when an overheight truck ripped through it, forcing workers to jump out of the way and causing over $728,000 in replacement costs; the truck did not stop and was never found.
Often, the sensors are set off mistakenly by trucks of legal height. Last year, 11,004 trucks were stopped at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, and all but 443 were allowed to pass. One reason few trucks are stopped there, and there were no overheight accidents at all last year, is because most truckers know the height limit and are also aware the Bay Bridge-Tunnel has a police force of its own. Unlike the VDOT personnel at other area tunnels, the Bay Bridge-Tunnel police can give out tickets.
Other area tunnels have many more turnarounds than the Bay Bridge-Tunnel; tunnels in the area averaged 35 a day in 1999. Another problem facing tunnel crews is truckers letting air out of their air bags before inspection, then inflating them again before entering the tunnel. Some truckers ignore the warnings entirely, in part because the overheight penalty is only $75 plus court costs. Norfolk Virginian-Pilot (03/16/00) P. B3; Stone, Steve
Volvo A-2 Short-Term Ratings Affirmed by S&P After EU Rejection of Scania Deal
After the European Commission blocked Volvo's planned Scania acquisition, Standard & Poor's affirmed its A-2 short-term ratings on Volvo. While the EC decision creates an uncertain future, Volvo is highly profitable due to its geographically diversified truck and construction-equipment markets, said the rating firm. AFX.COM (03/16/00)Teamsters Union Stops Distribution of Interstate Bakeries Products
An Interstate Bakeries plant in Biddeford, Maine, was shut down Thursday and baked goods from the plant are no longer being distributed in New England due to a strike of Teamsters members who say the company would not go along with arbitration rulings or rehire a truck driver who was fired.Issues dealt with in the arbitration rulings include a union complaint of unfair labor practices that says the company loaded trucks with all the brands made at the plant – Wonder Bread, Hostess, Drake's, and J.J. Nissen – instead of one at a time, as should be done.
The company said it was not included in the process of arbitration and has requested a judge's clarification of the process, which predates Interstate Bakeries' 1998 acquisition of Drake's and J. J. Nissen. The union, which says the company voluntarily left the arbitration process, intends to expand the strike, perhaps to other states; a Pittsburgh union local began picketing Thursday on unrelated matters.
Although the strike has largely been peaceful, one Biddeford picket was hit by a truck Thursday and, according to the union, received surgery for back injuries; in addition, a truck going to a Massachusetts distribution hub had its windshield broken. Associated Press (03/16/00); Sharp, David
© copyright 2000 INFORMATION, INC. Terms of Service
