P.M. Executive Briefing - Aug. 29
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Wabash National Forms Supply Partnership With J.B. Hunt
Wabash National Corp., maker of Wabash and Fruehauf truck trailers, said Tuesday it has formed a partnership to be a "single source of supply" for truckload and intermodal giant J.B. Hunt Transport Services.Although the companies did not release precise details, Wabash said it will deliver an initial order of "several thousand" of its DuraPlate trailers to Hunt by the end of 2001. Wabash Chief Executive Officer Donald Ehrlich said his product should give Hunt an increase in productivity and its drivers a smoother-riding trailer.
Hunt CEO Kirk Thompson said that "this agreement is timely, in that it comes in the midst of our separation of our truck business from the intermodal business, allowing us to achieve virtually a complete conversion to new 53-foot DuraPlate trailers." He added that
Hunt operates more than 10,000 trucks and a combination of 40,000 trailers and containers. Transport Topics
FleetNet To Provide Emergency Road Help To TruckersB2B Members
Arkansas Best Corp. subsidiary FleetNet America announced Tuesday it has agreed to provide emergency roadside assistance to TruckersB2B members.Through a toll-free phone number, those customers will be able to contact FleetNet around the clock for services such as roadside mechanical repairs, tire maintenance and replacement, vehicle towing and other help. Transport Topics
S. California Counties Want To Build New Freeway To Ease Congestion
The California counties of Orange and Riverside, located in the Los Angeles area, are considering a $3-billion freeway between the two to ease traffic congestion, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.Transportation officials from those counties met Monday to discuss the issue, debating three possible routes through the Cleveland National Forest, the article said.
While no firm decision was made, consideration will be ongoing as officials from both counties want to ease the commute for their residents, the Times said. Transport Topics
Freightquote.com Offers Logistics to DirectSource Customers
Online freight and logistics provider freightquote.com announced Tuesday it will partner with the online imports service provider DirectSource Global Purchasing.DirectSource customers will now be able to access freightquote's logistics services, which include real-time quotes from transportation carriers as well as scheduling, tracking and invoicing.
DirectSource Global Purchasing was formed by a team from Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Wal-Mart to provide online buying and shipping. Transport Topics
Fritz, TradeCard Team Up For Online Logistics
TradeCard Inc., an online business-to-business network for international trade transactions, announced an agreement with global logistics provider Fritz Companies to form an online logistics service.Current TradeCard customers will also have access to Fritz logistics services; Fritz will also assist in TradeCard's delivery compliance system, checking shipments and providing electronic proof of delivery. Transport Topics
TrafficStation, Telus to Offer Customized Traffic Info in Vancouver, Toronto
TrafficStation, a North American provider of personalized traffic and traveler information through Internet and wireless communications such as cellular phones, has reached agreement with Western Canadian Internet Service Provider (ISP) Telus under which it will offer such traffic information to Vancouver and Toronto.Using Telus portals and MyBC Mobile, TrafficStation will be able to provide real-time updates of traffic information to commuters in those areas around the clock.
TrafficStation currently serves 28 major metropolitan areas in the United States and Canada, and plans to add several more by the end of 2000. Transport Topics
G.I. Trucking Expands Overnight Service in Three Western States
G.I. Trucking's new overnight delivery service has now expanded into Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico.The company said that service is available between Albuquerque and Denver, and between Albuquerque and Phoenix. The Phoenix delivery cluster includes Tucson and Flagstaff. The Denver area includes Colorado Springs.
G.I. Trucking is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Arkansas Best Corp. of Ft. Smith, Ark.Transport Topics
ComRoad Pairs With Mannesmann For Mobile Navigation
ComRoad AG, a German company that makes vehicle tracking software, said Tuesday it will cooperate with Mannesmann to market ComRoad's navigation systems for cars and trucks, Bloomberg reported.Mannesmann will support the marketing using its own D2 mobile phone network, and will also integrate that mobile phone service with the vehicle navigation software ComRoad provides. ComRoad also will use the Linux computer operating system that is free over the Internet. Transport Topics
Penske Trucks to Rent on Move.com
Penske Truck Leasing and Move.com Group announced an agreement Tuesday that allows customers to rent Penske moving trucks through the other company's online network. Move.com Group is the operator of Cendant Corp.'s relocation, real estate and home-related services portal.
Penske Truck Leasing is the Reading, Pa. joint venture of Penske Corp. and GE Capital. It has annual revenues around $2.7 billion, and operates more than 152,000 heavy-, medium-, and light-duty trucks in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Transport Topics
Exide to Close 11 Distribution Centers
Exide Corp., a Reading, Pa.-based major manufacturer of batteries used in ve-hicles and industrial applications, said it will close 11 North American distribution centers over the next 30 days, as part of a restructuring to improve company profitability in the slowed business for automotive replacement parts.Closing those centers will of course mean a loss of business for the trucking carriers that hauled products for those parts of the company's distribution chain. Exide expects to save approximately $2 million annually by closing them.
Exide also said its automotive "aftermarket" manufacturing plant in Maple, Ontario will be closed by Nov. 30, to generate about $4 million in annual pre-tax savings. The company will launch a feasibility study on whether to convert the facility to manufacture industrial batteries. Transport Topics
Headlines From Today's A.M. Briefing
- Diesel Prices Surge; West Coast Hit Hardest
- Freightliner Fights Back Against Weak Truck Market With High-Tech Offerings
- Mitsubishi President Will Resign Over Coverup Accusations
- Revenues Increase But US Trucking Takes Loss For Quarter
- Oakland Transportation Commission Awards TravInfo Contract
- Railroad Plans Big Memphis Intermodal Terminal
- New Tucson Intermodal Center Expected to Boost Manufacturing, Trucking
- Ward Trucking To Also Increase Rates, But Less Than Some
