February 29, 2000 9:39 AM, EST

P.M. Executive Briefing - Feb. 29

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This Afternoon's Headlines:

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Drivers May Flee 'Sweatshops'

South Florida Dump Truck Drivers Return to Work

Rail Ramp to Reduce Truck Traffic at Houston

Change Will Add Jobs at Yellow Freight's KC Terminal

Panel Discusses Chemical Tank Longevity

Drivers May Flee 'Sweatshops'

Michael B. Belzer of the University of Michigan Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations told a Transportation Research Board intermodal seminar last week that if marine terminal labor and management do not soon resolve their conflict over automated gate operations many harbor truckers will leave the industry.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union – concerned about keeping jobs, among other issues – opposes their employers' plan to implement automated dispatching and paperless gate transactions on the West Coast.

Harbor truckers will leave the industry if they continue to have to spend lengthy unpaid time waiting in line up to a quarter of their work day, and the disparity between the well-paid union workers and the truckers' low pay is making the situation at ports volatile, Belzer said.

The drivers' working conditions, which Belzer compared to "sweatshops," have made driver turnover hit 100%. Former California Trucking Association President Joe Nievez, president of Qwikway Trucking, urged various technologies to be installed to improve productivity, which he said "is a function of labor and management working together." Journal of Commerce (02/29/00); Mongelluzzo, Bill

South Florida Dump Truck Drivers Return to Work

Dump truck drivers carrying gravel, sand, rock, and fill for the construction industry in South Florida have gone back to work after a nearly month-long work stoppage.

Attorney Charles Caulkins, representing trucking companies, had sued the drivers and the Support Dump Trucking Group, claiming their attempts to get pay increases constitute illegal price-fixing.

The drivers, protesting high diesel and insurance costs, were asking for pay increases as much as 35%; their protest was joined by Port of Miami harbor truckers, who went back to work before many dump truckers did. Miami Herald (02/29/00); Fields, Gregg

Rail Ramp to Reduce Truck Traffic at Houston

The Port of Houston Authority said a new rail ramp will lead to 50,000 fewer truck trips a year hauling containers between port terminals and a north Houston rail yard. A new rail line runs between the Barbours Cut Container Terminal and Union Pacific Railroad's Strang Yard; another line under construction will run between the rail yard and Deer Port. Journal of Commerce (02/29/00) P. 19

Change Will Add Jobs at Yellow Freight's KC Terminal

Yellow Freight System plans to increase the payroll at 24 of its terminals by a total of 300 truckers and dockworkers. Some terminals will reduce their number of employees, but those affected will be given first right to newly-created jobs at other terminals, said spokesman Roger Dick.

The operational changes will allow the company to offer two-day delivery service on 40% of routes between cities. Yellow Freight said delivery times heading to or from major cities will be one or two days shorter when the changes are complete. Kansas City Star Online (02/28/00); Heaster, Randolph

Panel Discusses Chemical Tank Longevity

At a panel on cargo tank longevity at the 1999 Cargo Tank Maintenance Seminar, BP Amoco's Mel Arterberry said in 1997 his company instituted a policy of refusing to load tanks over 10 years old after spotting cracks in tanks from various manufacturers built between 1985 to 1986. He called for more information about how the tanks develop these problems and "a database that can be shared throughout the industry."

Randy Hales, of Miller Transporters, said his company had looked at 414 tank trailers over 10 years old and found only three that were defective; while good specifications and maintenance are the foundation of tank longevity, another problem is shippers loading the tanks with products of the wrong type or wrong temperature.

Brenner Tank's John Cannon said current stainless-steel trailers are designed to last 20 years and most do so, adding that some double-conical tanks may crack due to bottom loading, so the outlet should be properly braced.

At least every year, tanks hauling corrosives should be passivated to avoid pitting, and soon after deliveries involving stainless steel tanks should be cleaned and dried completely, he said. In addition to BP Amoco, Ashland Chemical limits tank age, but other shippers do not. Modern Bulk Transporter (02/00) Vol. 62, No. 8; P. 64