March 16, 2000 9:09 AM, EST

P.M. Executive Briefing - Mar. 16

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This Afternoon's Headlines:

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Peterbilt Cuts Back Production Because of Gas Prices

Trucks Rigged for Nuke Security

Kane Board Says it Opposes Railport

Peterbilt Cuts Back Production Because of Gas Prices

Due to rising fuel prices cutting into truck sales, Peterbilt Motors is cutting daily truck output to 50 units, from 70; there may also be layoffs, which will come in the near future if at all. Rumors among the workers say over 300 could be laid off. Associated Press (03/16/00)

Trucks Rigged for Nuke Security

The Energy Department's Albuquerque (N.M.) Operations Office has received the initial two Peterbilt Motors bulletproof tractors designed by engineers at Sandia National Laboratories for hauling nuclear weapons and other secret nuclear items. Fifty of the $250,000 tractors, designed for driver comfort in addition to security due to the lengthy hauls they make, will be built in all.

The crew consists of as many as three drivers, all federal agents, who have to stay on the road until making delivery except for brief stops to eat or use the bathroom. Thus, the tractors are designed to be especially quiet, and the special mattress in the sleeper berth was chosen to reduce the bouncing regular mattresses drivers can experience while the rig is on the road.

With armed convoys as escorts, the tractors will pull "Safe Secure Trailers," which officials would not describe in detail but said are like "mobile vaults." The new tractors replace the cramped 1980s units used by the couriers before. Albuquerque Journal Online (03/15/00); Fleck, John

Kane Board Says it Opposes Railport

The Kane County (Ill.) Board unanimously voted to oppose Union Pacific's planned intermodal yard at Maple Park. Most members of the board have opposed the plan, and the resolution received preliminary approval last week.

The group Citizens Opposed to Railport Expansion was encouraged by the Board's Tuesday vote, said group head Roxanne Stover, saying she believes the board will assist the anti-railport group and the vote will persuade the railroad not to follow through on its plans.

As the activists and county leaders attempt to decide how to fight the huge railport, the county Forest Preserve District is considering taking portions of the land necessary for the project. The railroad still apparently wants to put the railport there; it has contracts for land and believes it could still get public approval, and it benefits from 19th century law granting railroads powers of eminent domain.

The railport opponents took their cause to one of Sen. Peter Fitzgerald's aides at a Tuesday meeting and are distributing a letter in Maple Park answering Mayor Ray McAdams' claims that the railport will bring economic growth. Chicago Tribune (03/15/00) P. 7, Trib West Section; Heinzmann, David