P.M. Executive Briefing - Jun 6
This Afternoon's Headlines:
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Former US Transportation Secretary Skinner Named USFreightways CEO
Former US Transportation Secretary Samuel Skinner will become president and chief executive officer of general freight truck line USFreightways Corp., succeeding current chairman Cam Carruth in the CEO role. Carruth, who has been CEO since 1985, said he will continue as chairman until the end of the year, when Skinner will also become chairman of the Chicago-based company. Skinner assumes his CEO duties in early July.Carruth said in a press release that Skinner would "lead USFreightways in becoming a leader in domestic and global supply chain management."
Lafarge Canada Inc. and Mullen Transportation Inc. Announce B2B Supply Chain Management Initiative with CGI
Top Canadian construction-materials supplier Lafarge Canada and logistics firm Mullen Transportation are joining with e-business service provider CGI to create a real-time information database to help streamline the delivery of cement to Lafarge's customers.The system will enable the companies to link cement orders with Mullen's satellite-equipped trucks and to track the status of shipments. Mullen is Lafarge's main cement carrier for Alberta. Canada NewsWire (06/06/00)
Consolidated Freightways Completes First Air Acquisition
Consolidated Freightways said its purchase of First Air, a forwarder that operated under the names Flight Masters/Sea Masters, is complete. First Air is now CF AirFreight, with founder and CEO Richard McCrady Sr. serving as president.According to Pat Blake, CF's chief executive, the acquisition gives CF access to First Air's sophisticated technology, which includes ocean-freight management capability. CF AirFreight will concentrate on air for the remainder of the year, but will be aggressively pursuing ocean freight. CF's ocean business has mainly consisted of co-loadings to Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
First Air currently has six offices, with five in the United States and one in London; CF hopes to open 20 more U.S. offices by year's end. McCrady will remain based in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota and will keep his post as Airforwarders Association chairman. Journal of Commerce (06/05/00); Armbruster, William
USPS Looks to Partner With A European Post Office to Expand offerings
The U.S. Postal Service is looking into partnering with a European post office and broadening its service offerings, said John Kelly, president of expedited and package services.The partnership, Kelly speculated, could involve Deutsche Post – whose expansion Kelly admires – or perhaps TPG or the U.K. post office. While it would be unlawful for USPS to carry shipments over 70 pounds, Kelly said the post office could earn a brokerage fee for linking "a carrier who does pallet business together with a customer."
The USPS is already partnered with Emery Worldwide, DHL Airways, and Airborne Express in the United States; the Airborne@Home service provided with Airborne Express was Kelly's brainchild, says Airborne's Jerry Hempstead.
The postal service will need to diversify its offerings in order to survive in a world where it is losing billions of dollars due to e-mail and electronic bill payment. Traffic World (06/05/00) Vol. 262, No. 10; P. 15; Parker, John
America's Body Co. Acquires Scherer Truck Equipment
The closely held Cleveland-based truck-body supplier America's Body Co. has acquired the 75-year-old Scherer Truck Equipment, of Riverside, Mo., which will become a division of the Cleveland firm. Walter R. Thomas will be staying on as Scherer's president and general manager.Thomas says Evan Corns, founder of America's Body, is a good friend who has grown his company to five locations since its founding a quarter century ago. "We'll continue to expand our operations coast to coast and border to border," says Thomas. Kansas City Star Online (06/05/00); Margolies, Dan
Stanford MBA Student Wins Prize For Online Load-Matching Business Plan
Stanford University MBA student Rob Rogers' idea for an online load-matching system has won second prize in the Stanford Entrepreneurial Challenge.The first year student, from St. Louis, entered his business plan for bundledout.com with Ralph Olsen, a trucking-industry executive, and Jim Rivetta, of the St. Louis-area firm Daedalic. St. Louis Business Journal Online (06/05/00); Manning, Margie
Florida Identifies Drivers With Bogus Licenses After Illinois Scandal
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles will retest 750 Florida drivers suspected of having been licensed fraudulently by Tampa driving instructor Marek Winniczek, who is currently charged with accepting bribes in exchange for passing drivers-license applicants.Florida authorities say that up to 1,000 truckers in 17 states that may have been passed by Winniczek through bribery, then swapped the Florida licenses for ones from other states.
Officials in Ohio, Tennessee, Illinois, and New York said they have received lists of Florida-licensed drivers; New York will retest 189 drivers, and Illinois will retest 13. The Florida officials' investigation was prompted by the Illinois bribes-for-licenses scandal. St. Louis Post-Dispatch Online (06/04/00)
eLogistics, IBM Take Freight Services to Africa, Europe and Middle East
Freight services are now available online through Internet exchanges. One example of these online auction sites is Freight Traders, created by candy maker Mars and IBM, andLogistics.
Freight Traders intends to initially allow freight service providers and buyers in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa to make transactions online, but eventually hopes to form a global service network.
Through Freight Traders, shippers provide the details of the shipment needed, which is then sent to the companies that provide the transportation. The auction itself can be either closed or open; in a closed auction, the shipper can choose which transportation firms can bid, while in an open auction, all firms are welcome to participate.
In a closed auction, the shipper ends the process by accepting a bid – which may not be the lowest offer – while in an open auction, Freight Traders closes the auction by notifying the bidder with the lowest fee.
eLogistics is currently working within the United Kingdom's national temperature-controlled logistics sector, but wants to expand services to include the fast-moving British consumer goods sector and the European high-technology consumer electronics market.
Initially, eLogistics will work on promoting road transport services to assist in bettering operational efficiency and to lower the costs of logistics. Using sequential exchange, in which transport companies bid for shipper's contracts at eLogistics's Internet site, shippers can communicate directly with the transportation companies.
Also in development is online auctioneer Translogistica, which will allow manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers to use the Web to provide invitations to tender European freight traffic. Financial Times--FT Explorer (06/01/00) P. 3; Hastings, Phillip
Compiled by Transport Topics staff and INFORMATION, INC. © 2000
