P.M. Executive Briefing - April 28
This Afternoon's Headlines:
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New Mexican Law Recognizes Online Transactions as Binding
Mexican lawmakers have passed a bill giving legal recognition to electronic transactions, subject to certain requirements, including the confidentiality of data submitted by buyers and obedience to ordinary rules governing advertising and commerce. Following the transactions, copies of pertinent documents would need to be retained for 10 years or more.The bill, which unanimously passed the legislature's lower house, does not have to be passed by the Senate. Journal of Commerce Online (04/28/00)
Nissan Diesel to Supply Renault Group With Diesel Engines From 2003
Starting in 2003, Nissan Diesel will supply Renault and its truck unit Renault VI with ZD diesel engines, which are currently used by Nissan Motor for its products Terrano and El Grande.Using Renault VI/Mack sales channels, Nissan Diesel will begin sales in Africa and Central America of its trucks with a gross capacity of 6 to 7 tons, and it will begin selling Renault small buses and Master minivans in Japan.
Renault has assured Nissan Diesel that the recent link between Renault and Volvo will not change the alliance between Renault and Nissan Diesel. Nissan Diesel does not intend a closer link with Mitsubishi Motors, which has strong ties to Volvo, said Nissan Diesel President Hirofumi Nazazawa. AFX - Asia (04/28/00)
Stock in the News: Oshkosh Truck
This week, specialty truckmaker Oshkosh Truck announced its participation in the federally-backed 21st Century Truck Initiative partnership, which aims to cut air pollution and oil dependence while increasing fuel efficiency. Oshkosh Truck and partners are working to enable specialty trucks to use hybrid electric/internal combustion engines.According to First Call/Thomson Financial, the consensus five-year growth rate for the company is 17%; on the consensus recommendation scale, where a "one" means buy, "three" means hold, and "five" means sell, Oshkosh received a 1.2. Wisconsin State Journal (04/27/00) P. 1F
Chemical Industry Due for Upturn in 5- to 7-Year Global Profit Cycle
Aristech Chemical Corp. President H. Patrick Jack discussed the profit status of the chemical-manufacturing industry at Chemical Week's Chemical Transportation and Distribution Conference in January. He predicted that an upturn is about to occur in the industry's five- to seven-year global profit cycle, which he said will peak 2003.Jack added that the industry has always been cyclical, and will continue to be so, but changes are coming with increased Internet usage. He said higher future demand will require bigger rail hopper cars, tank trailers, and tank containers, forcing substantial improvements to railroad and highway infrastructure. Jack also said transportation must be better coordinated to keep the new, larger chemical plants from causing bottlenecks in distribution.
All these issues are exacerbated by the multiple railroad mergers that have severely cut competition and caused service to degenerate. Saying the Surface Transportation Board has not done a good job of keeping the rails competitive, Jack advocated deregulation and encouraged conference attendees to lobby Congress and become active in politics. He also said the industry can achieve deregulation if everyone works together. Modern Bulk Transporter (04/00) Vol. 62, No. 10; P. 43
Moving More Than the Goods
More than 50 online transportation exchanges are currently under development, each seeking to streamline the process of matching shippers with carriers in order to reduce transportation costs, lower product prices, boost profits, enable vendors to move more products, and allow markets to increase handling capacity.However, there are a variety of different business strategies used by the new industry exchanges. For instance, Logistics.com intends to focus upon spot market truckloads while also providing value-added services like the tracking and monitoring of contract shipments. Additionally, the exchange will offer both public and private bidding sessions and provide carrier and shipper decision support software to participants.
Conversely, Nistevo.com plans to host the online exchanges created by various supply chain partners and create a central information database to enable Nistevo users to combine LTLs to create shared truckloads. Nistevo seeks to provide forward visibility into the excess capacity created when shipments have been delivered and the carrier is returning empty, consequently allowing multiple shippers to efficiently utilize that excess capacity.
General Mills has already signed onto the Nistevo network and expects to realize significant savings in transportation expense. Food Logistics (04/00) No. 30; P. 16; Casper, Carol
Sentinel Transportation Flourishes Under Close DuPont, Conoco Relationship
Sentinel Transportation, a joint venture of DuPont and Conoco, has 44 terminals across the nation and hauls chemicals and waste for DuPont and crude oil, diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, lube oil, and petroleum coke for Conoco. Sentinel has nearly 1,200 trailers, including chemical and petroleum tanks, dry bulk tanks, dry and refrigerated vans, and some rack vans for spools of nylon.Safety is important to Sentinel, which the company expresses by financially rewarding drivers and mechanics with good safety records. In addition, safety issues are taught through seminars, training sessions, peer group reviews, manuals, and videotapes. Sentinel also keeps high standards for driver recruiting.
To combat driver fatigue, the company puts long-haul truckers through a four-hour program called Driving in the Awake Lane, while it uses the two-hour Alert Driver program for short-haul and local drivers.
Different Sentinel terminals handle maintenance differently - some in-house, some outsourced - and some terminals are augmenting the maintenance programs with computer applications.
The Parkersburg, W.Va., site uses a database to retain maintenance information for each tractor and trailer while tracking parts inventory. Preventive maintenance for trailers occurs every 90 days there, in addition to safety checks performed subsequent to unloading; this has cut down the out-of-service rate considerably, says Parkersburg terminal manager Quentin Willey. Modern Bulk Transporter (04/00) Vol. 62, No. 10; P. 30
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