P.M. Executive Briefing - April 14
This Afternoon's Headlines:
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Trucking Firm President Sentenced 15 Months in Tanker-Explosion Death
Carl Bradley Johansson, who was president of a Southern California-based carrier, has been given a 15-month federal prison sentence for improperly allowing a welder to repair a gasoline tanker in 1993, leading to an explosion that killed the welder.
GI Rubbish Rolling Toward Cleaner Fuel
The eastern Ventura County, Calif., trash hauler GI Rubbish will receive a grant of $624,000 from the Air Pollution Control District to help it convert its fleet from diesel to liquefied natural gas.The company's goal is to have 25 percent or more of its trucks converted in two years in order to help reduce pollution in its community, and it is also putting in a fueling station at its base in Simi Valley. Several other companies and school districts in the county are also switching to natural gas-fueled buses, and the air district's Mike Villegas says California government incentives and mandates are driving a trend toward clean fuels for transit firms.
The district made an effort to get western Ventura County waste hauler E.J. Harrison and Sons to participate in a similar conversion program, but that company did not want to buy new trucks. Evidence that diesel fuel produces dangerous particulate emissions may help push more companies toward cleaner fuels, but Villegas said there are "certainly a lot of challenges to that science." Ventura County (Calif.) Star (04/13/00) P. B1; Johnson, Brett
KPMG Study: Shippers Want Better Service From Carrier
A KPMG Consulting poll of transportation firms, Fortune 500 companies, and analysts found that most transportation companies incorrectly believe they are living up to the e-commerce requirements of their customers.Shippers want to be able to order and track goods online as well as get payment and invoice data, and they want to participate in route planning, while carriers pay more attention to allowing online transactions.
Railroads are becoming aware that their mindsets differ considerably from those of their customers, and they are working to make changes, while some shippers are unsure of the value of electronic business. A.G. Edwards analyst David Broughton says the type of freight being moved - its value and density - determine how worthwhile it is for the shipper to get online shipment tracking and notification of whether service will be on time.
KPMG's Kathy Capellinni says Transplace.com and other online exchanges may win customers away from transportation firms if the carriers do not become more interactive. Computerworld (04/10/00) Vol. 34, No. 15; P. 24; Rosencrance, Linda
Training the Trainer
While standards for trucker training have advanced far from what they once were, the quality of trainers is still mixed, as the industry and government have not adopted uniform training standards.The American Trucking Associations' North American Transportation Management Institute and the Truckload Carriers Association's Professional Truck Drivers' Institute are two groups that train some of the trainers and set standards for training. Some companies have found their own ways to train instructors for driver training and finishing, such as Covenant Transport, which requires prospective trainers to have perfect driving records and excellent on-the-job records, and submit to an interview. Covenant finds attitude highly important, along with neatness, people skills, and conscientiousness about safety.
Accepted applicants then go through a three-part program. They must get through individual training sessions, then perform "senior training" of defensive-driving skills, and finally develop, and carry out, a classroom lesson plan. The New England Tractor Trailer Training School has a special course for prospective instructors that exceeds the standards for certification by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology. The trucking industry would be helped in several ways, including quality of job candidates and industry image, with universal standards for training, especially instructor training, as well as driver-finishing standards.
ederal legislation may also include requirements for driver training, although quality of finishing will likely remain inconsistent.Truckers News Online (04/00)
Savvy Marketing: Drivers as Sales Force?
Management consultant David Goodson suggests training truckers as a sales force, rather than hiring more salespeople, because the truckers see the customers on a regular basis.Truckers can meet such sales duties as customer appreciation, seeking further business, gathering rate information, resolving problems and learning what customers need, and finding out about the competition.
While some drivers will not want to work as sales people, others take to the position naturally and do not even want to be paid more. Once interested drivers are identified, a company manager should meet with the driver, and the customer, so the manager can assess determine whether the customer can work comfortably with the driver. The driver can then be given regular trips to that customer, along with promotional materials and an expense account. Extra money for time off the road should also be considered. Goodson also recommends checking in with the customer periodically to see how the arrangement is working out. Trucking Co. Online (04/00) ; Goodson, David
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The Sweet & Lowdown on Diabetes
While truckers with type 1 diabetes, who do not produce enough insulin and must rely on shots, are forbidden from driving interstate, such insulin-dependent people constitute less than 10 percent of all diabetics.Truckers who have type 2 diabetes, or non-insulin dependent diabetes, can usually control their condition through exercise, oral medicine, and watching what they eat. Tony Walter, a diabetic Idaho trucker, said he keeps his truck refrigerator stocked with healthful items to avoid starchy truckstop fare.
Walter added that most restaurants do not protest at giving him vegetables instead of starches, and vegetables are often plentiful on buffets; he also takes a short walk every two hours. Truckers who eat high-sugar foods, are overweight, between 45 and 65 years of age, and sedentary are at risk of getting diabetes and may be among the one-third of the nation's diabetics who are unaware of their condition.
Congress is currently studying the possibility of lifting the ban on interstate driving for diabetic truckers, as no accidents involving insulin-dependent airline pilots have been reported since the government began to allow them five years ago. Overdrive Online (04/00) ; Magner, Carolyn
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