P.M. Executive Briefing - Jan. 6
This Afternoon's Headlines:
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Legal-Drug Ban Urged for Bus, Truck Drivers
The National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday called for a federal prohibition on use of some legal drugs by commercial drivers and pilots while they are working. Investigations of deadly crashes are more and more often discovering traces of legal prescription or nonprescription drugs.The NTSB asked that the Transportation Department ban medications such as antihistamines that can lead to drowsiness while drawing up a list of safe medications. It also requested that the Food and Drug Administration create better warning labels for medications that could affect driving ability. New Orleans Times-Picayune (01/06/00) P. 11A; Walsh, Bill
Caltrans Truck Permit Office Faces an Audit
A California legislative panel Wednesday approved state Sen. Betty Karnette's request for an audit of the truck permit office at Caltrans. The panel allocated $47,000 for the audit.The permit office has been feeling the heat from a rash of mistakes that sent oversized loads along inappropriate routes, leading to a fatal freeway accident in July and the collapse of a temporary bridge in October.
After the July accident, Caltrans said permitting mistakes were rare, but an internal review at the agency and another probe by the state highway patrol found a total of 33 or more in the past three and a half years. Los Angeles Times (01/06/00) P. 3B; Garvey, Megan
Companies Vie for Family Business of Year
The Institute for Family Business on Thursday announced the winners for its 2000 California Family Business Awards.The food hauler Kings County Truck Lines, of Tulare, has been chosen among companies of more than 250 employees. Manuel "J.R." Mancebo Jr., son of the company founder, is president and CEO, and the company involves other family members as well.
The trucking company and the winners in the five other categories are eligible for the Family Business of the Year award, to be presented at the Family Business Conference Jan. 13 and 14 in Visalia. Fresno Bee Online (01/06/00) ; Pollock, Dennis
Truck Diver Ensures Food For Hundreds Despite Suffering Heart Attack
Hundreds of people in Oakland County, Mich., were able to get meals Wednesday thanks to quick thinking by a trucker who was experiencing a heart attack.After Jim Callison arrived at the Oakland County Food Bank with a tractor-trailer full of produce, he began to experience the symptoms of a heart attack and called 911. But he remembered to leave the keys in the truck before being taken to Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital.
OCFB Executive Director Helen Kozlowski was quoted in a Pontiac newspaper as saying the truck would have blocked the bay if Callison had not left the keys. Instead, the produce from Springfield, Ohio, was delivered to 10 food agencies that daily serve 75 or more people apiece.
Members of the Ohio trucker's family hurried to Pontiac, and a food bank employee offered to house them in town while Callison recovers. Detroit Free Press Online (01/06/00)
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