April 7, 2000 4:45 PM, EDT

P.M. Executive Briefing - April 7

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This Afternoon's Headlines:

Need More Respect for Your Private Fleet?
Still a World Wide Web In Trucking Industry
A Miracle Cure for Wasted Fuel?
Jane's Adventure in CRM Land
Intermodal. What Now?
Supply Chain Moves Online

Need More Respect for Your Private Fleet?

Several seminars scheduled this year by the Institute for Truck Transportation Management, the education and research arm of the National Private Truck Council, will focus on increasing fleet utilization without increasing costs, and how a fleet manager can add value, strengthen relationships within the organization, and gain respect and confidence from senior management.

The seminar is called "Strategies to Improve the Private Fleet's Position" and will cover activity-based costing, revenue enhancement opportunities, various case studies, backhaul strategies, and cost saving techniques dealing with outsourcing challenges. The seminars will be conducted in Minneapolis; Greensboro, N.C.; and Nashville, Tenn. Trucking Co. Online (04/00)

Still a World Wide Web In Trucking Industry

E-commerce activity in the $450 billion U.S. trucking industry is increasing with even more Web sites for shippers, providers, and load brokers.

Recently, six of the biggest U.S. carriers – WernerEnterprises, U.S. Xpress Enterprises, Swift Transportation, M. S. Carriers, J. B. Hunt Transport Services, and Covenant Transport – announced plans to combine their logistics units into a Web site that will match loads with open spots on carriers' trucks.

Similarly, General Mills, Graphic Packaging, Fort James, Land O'Lakes, and Pillsbury recently announced plans to create a Web-based freight and logistics exchange. ComputerWorld (04/03/00) Vol. 34, No. 14; P. 36; Sami Lais

A Miracle Cure for Wasted Fuel?

Fredco Enterprises has introduced the Sumag, a device that produces a magnetic field that changes the molecular structure of diesel fuel after it is clamped to the fuel line near the engine.

Fredco President Chester Frederick said the $135 device breaks up the clusters that fuel molecules form so all the molecules are burned when they enter the engine instead of only the molecules on the outside of the cluster being burned, while the unburned fuel exits as exhaust. Consequently, the engine runs cleaner, cheaper, and more efficiently when all the fuel is burned in addition to having more power available for climbing hills.

Unfortunately, the engine needs to run for 2,000 miles after the device is installed to realize the 6% to 18% increase in fuel savings that Fredco promises. The 2,000-mile interval is to reduce a buildup of carbon in the combustion chamber, said Frederick.

The company offers a 110% refund if the product does not increase gas mileage by at least 6%. Trucking Co. Online (04/00) ; Sean Kelley

Intermodal. What Now?

The future of intermodal looks good as new technology, equipment, and service options loom on the horizon. Despite some merger-related problems, intermodal continues to expand as it has done throughout the 1990s (with the exception of 1995).

In 1998, total loadings were almost 8.8 million containers and trailers, while preliminary loading totals for 1999 have reached more than 9 million. According to the railroads, exciting new options are available to attract and retain both veteran and rookie shippers, such as the new 53-foot trailers and intermodal cars with 53-foot wells.

Another new service, which may point to the future, is Ice Cold Express, which was started in early 1999 as a joint venture between TemStar, Mark VII, and the BNSF. This new service, which uses 53-foot RoadRailer trailers equipped with refrigeration units, allows railroads to go after perishable

raffic, a market long dominated by motor carriers. Inbound Logistics (03/00) Vol. 20, No. 3; P. 24; Walter Weart

Supply Chain Moves Online

Supply chain management software offers significant benefits, including improved sales forecasts, improved fill rates, fewer

ut-of-stock situations, reduced order cancellations, and more stable inventories. I2 Technologies offers a wide array of SCM solutions for manufacturers to use separately or in concert, including TradeMatrix, Internet Fulfillment Center, Demand Planner, Factory Planner, Rhythm Factory Planner, and Rhythm Sequencer.

Bethlehem Steel improved the on-time delivery rates from its tin mill in Sparrow, Md., from 75% to the high 90% range with i2's Rhythm Factory Planner. "We have to have intelligent, real-time capability within our factories, and we have to be able to collaborate with our suppliers in real-time,"

ays Robert Briggs, general manager of Caterpillar, a long-time i2 customer.

The advanced planning and scheduling (APS) applications of the recent past focused solely on improving efficiencies within a certain organization. That task, while certainly important, is no longer enough. Today's Internet-enabled SCM solutions extend the efficiency improvements to suppliers and customers, in real time.

Analysts expect the biggest opportunities in the SCM market will be in the area of Web-enabled collaboration--a development i2's Jim Wilson welcomes. "We have the opportunity to redefine e-business just as we did with the planning and scheduling business in the 1990s," he says. Industry Week (03/20/00) Vol. 249, No. 6; P. 52; Doug Bartholomew