P.M. Executive Briefing - May 24
This Afternoon's Headlines:
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Liles Backs Off on Bid for KLLM But Preparing Another
KLLM Transport Services CEO Jack Liles pulled his bid to acquire the firm when a financial backer had to abandon the bid for unrelated reasons, and Liles plans another bid to acquire the firm, says a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. It is unclear whether WorldCom President and CEO Bernie Ebbers, a backer of Liles' bid, is still involved in the bidding; a WorldCom spokeswoman declined to comment.The KLLM board's special committee in charge of the bidding did not indicate whether the company will be sold to Prime Inc. owner Robert Low, and committee member Walter Neely said the negotiations have lasted longer than expected. Associated Press (05/24/00); Moore, Matt
Illinois CDL Scandal Spurs Wisconsin Review
Responding to the Illinois bribes-for-licenses scandal, the Milwaukee County, Wis., sheriff's office plans to look into 150 truck accidents that happened in the county to see if the truckers may have had connections to the scandal.The sheriff's employees examined 8,000 crashes that occurred in the past year, and 150 of them involved trucks or truckers licensed or registered in Illinois. Last week, Sheriff Lev Baldwin asked the state's attorney general to ensure that Illinois revokes licenses bought through bribery.
As of last week, Wisconsin's Division of Motor Vehicles had found two truck drivers with Wisconsin licenses who had had licenses revoked in Illinois; neither reported for retests after Wisconsin called them in. Associated Press (05/24/00)
Mack Trucks Says It Will Lay Off 300 Workers
Mack Trucks announced that 300 of the roughly 1,300 employees at its truck plant in Winnsboro, S.C., will be laid off effective Aug. 14 in response to a slowing heavy-truck market. The plant will cut daily production in one of its two shifts from 100 trucks to 70 and eliminate the other 100-truck shift entirely. Associated Press (05/24/00)Missouri Won a Round Against I-70 Nuke Waste Loads, But Lots More to Come in Future
Although Missouri state officials last week were able to divert a shipment of nuclear waste around the state, The Kansas City Star reports Interstate 70 could soon see numerous nuclear waste shipments move between St. Louis and Kansas City on their way to storage sites.That stretch of I-70 is a key link in cross-country travel, and state officials say it is in no shape to handle nuclear wastes moving through the state's two largest cities. The Star noted that plans are pending to ship spent nuclear fuel to Nevada's Yucca Mountain facility from more than 70 U.S. nuclear plants.
Already, the United States is taking in some nuclear waste from overseas; a shipment of that waste was expected to go along I-70 recently and up to Idaho, before Missouri political leaders pushed to divert it north to Iowa. But the Star said Energy Secretary Bill Richardson made clear in a letter to Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan that the federal government plans to use I-70 for future shipments.
Deteroriation in the I-70's overall condition, amid heavy gains in auto and truck traffic, is also spurring Missouri authorities to consider ways to both upgrade the corridor and perhaps divert some of its traffic. Transport Topics staff
Mitsubishi Motors, Volvo Reportedly in Talks Over Diesel Engine Supply
According to a report in the Nikkan Jidousha Shimbun, Mitsubishi Motors is in talks to supply diesel engines – probably between 2,000 and 3,000 a year – to Volvo for medium-duty trucks. Volvo and Mitsubishi are developing medium trucks together and within a few years intend to market them with their own brand, the report said. AFX - Asia (05/24/00)IFleet Expects to Receive $20.5 Million in Funding
Maryland-based Grotech Capital Group will lead a round of funding totaling $20.5 million for iFleet, a Roswell, Ga., fleet-management services company serving such customers as Pepsico, Ryder System, and United Parcel Service. Other investors are Mellon Ventures and Robinson-Humphrey. Atlanta Journal-Constitution (05/24/00) P. 7D; Hubbard, CarolineCompiled by Transport Topics staff and INFORMATION, INC. © 2000
