P.M. Executive Briefing - Dec. 15
This Morning's Headlines:
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Arco to Sell Cleaner New Diesel Fuel for Fleets
Atlantic Richfield will start selling low-sulfur diesel for municipal fleets in Southern California.Arco Products President Roger Truitt said the company is trying to keep natural gas and other alternative fuels from eroding diesel's market share.
It also wants to back the California Air Resources Board staff proposal substantially cutting emissions in buses, he said.
The company thinks emissions will be as low as alternative fuels' or even lower if the vehicles are equipped with catalytic converters.
Arco's new low-sulfur fuel's sulfur content will be no more than 15 parts per million, down from 120 parts per million on average now. In addition, the EC Diesel product the company is currently testing will be between 5 and 10 parts per million, Truitt said. Los Angeles Times (12/15/99) P. 2C; Brooks, Nancy Rivera
Metro Canada Logistics Adds Calgary Hub
Metro Canada Logistics is moving to a sprawling new facility in the Foothills Industrial Park in southeast Calgary, a city that has become a center for transportation and distribution. Metro also has such sites in Vancouver; Brampton, Ontario; and Montreal. Calgary Herald (12/15/99) P. D1; Parker, DavidInland Port Concept Is Endorsed
Virginia's First Regional Industrial Facility Authority, which represents a number of southwest Virginia counties, has backed plans to use part of an under-construction Wythe County industrial park for an inland port.A rail connection could be built in the southern portion of Progress Park, where freight could be transferred from truck to rail to be taken to Hampton Roads ports. This could cut the expense of shipping and could limit truck traffic on Interstate 81.
Wythe County is studying whether rail traffic volumes would be sufficient to make the port feasible. State and federal grants would finance the proposed inland port.
The authority has also eyed the Radford Army Ammunition Plant's New River location for such an inland port, but the Wythe County plan has priority.
The inland port was proposed by the Joint Industrial Development Authority of Wythe County, Wytheville, and Rural Retreat, which also wants the project to be included in the Foreign Trade Zone for New River Valley Airport in Pulaski County. Roanoke Times Online (12/15/99) ; Dellinger, Paul
Road Less Traveled Might Not Be For Long
As Virginia legislators attempt to set priorities for state transportation funding, one of the proposals vying for attention will be a $1 billion project to upgrade the east-west Route 58 into a four-lane highway that can attract truck traffic.Lawmakers from the southern part of the state believe economic prosperity will result if Route 58, which runs for 500 miles along Virginia's southern border, can compete with Interstate 40 in North Carolina for truckers and travelers. Its eastern end is near the Hampton Roads port. Many trucks already use the part of Route 58 east of I-85, and when current construction is completed the road will have four lanes much of the way to Martinsville from that interstate.
But the plan will have to battle for priority with the desire to build roads in northern Virginia's Washington, D.C., suburbs to relieve congestion there, which will probably take precedence.
When the Route 58 truck highway proposal first came up a decade ago, some northern lawmakers opposed it, and they still have private misgivings. But legislators from the state's north and south joined together in the latest session to allocate $104 million apiece to Route 58 and the northern roadways. Washington Times (12/15/99) P. A1; Dinan, Stephen
Holiday Express' Schichtl Named Iowa Safety Director of the Year
The 1999 Iowa Safety Director of the Year Award went to Estherville-based Holiday Express' safety director Sheila Schichtl. Chairman Kyle Krause of the Iowa Motor Truck Association was there as Schichtl received the award. The Trucker Online (12/15/99)Canadian Customs Officers Get More Power
Border customs officers in Canada will have enhanced arrest ability thanks to a new federal regulation.Thirty-two crossings will be affected, starting in May with Windsor, Ontario's Detroit-Canada Tunnel and Ambassador Bridge.
The officers, who will be given pepper spray and batons, will be trained about common border infractions and to catch people with outstanding warrants. TruckingInfo.com (12/15/99)
Teamsters Local 407 Ousts President and Block of Supporters In Elecction
Yellow Freight System driver Alex Adams, one of the leaders in Teamsters for a Democratic Union's Cleveland chapter, has been chosen to be president of Cleveland's Teamsters Local 407. The executive board will be controlled by Adams' slate, which took 10 positions out of 12 in the election.Incumbent local President Joseph Pierani, a backer of union President James P. Hoffa, was defeated along with the remainder of his slate.
Adams supported Hoffa presidential foe Tom Leedham in 1998.
Of the roughly 4,000 people represented by Local 407, some 700 work for Yellow Freight in Richfield, Ohio. Akron Beacon Journal (12/14/99) P. C6; Russell, John
Truck Bombing May Have Tie to Steel Strike, Officials Say
A bomb that damaged a truck belonging to S&S Transportation in Morrow County, Ohio, on Saturday could be linked to an AK Steel labor dispute, according to AK Steel officials and authorities.The truck had been used to carry scrap metal to Luntz Corp., located close to the picket lines. Vice President for Public Affairs Alan McCoy said several AK Steel officials' mailboxes have been harmed in explosions and a Van Wert-area trucking firm was hit with a drive-by shooting after being warned by telephone to cease working for AK Steel.
AK Steel employees in Mansfield were locked out at the beginning of September.
United Steelworkers Local 169 President Mark Robertson opposed the violence and said it is hurting the union. Columbus Dispatch Online (12/14/99) ; Hinchey, Frank
Wal-Mart Picks Shelbyville for Distribution Facility
helbyville, Tenn., was chosen over a dozen or more competing locations in the state for a new Wal-Mart food distribution site. The facility, which will see 400 trucks a day, will be developed with the assistance of a $750,000 grant from the state. Associated Press (12/14/99)
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