P.M. Executive Briefing - Nov. 16
This Afternoon's Headlines:
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Ex-Staffer Ties Tickets to Licenses
At a Chicago press conference set up by the Better Government Association, Andi Maddox, who worked at the driver licensing site in Elk Grove Village, Ill., said her bosses pushed her to issue CDLs and set up false addresses for truckers for donations to George Ryan's successful gubernatorial campaign.Maddox also alleged that the office of the secretary of state inspector general in 1995 stopped a probe into the claimed scheme that started in 1992 at the earliest. She gave reporters driving-test papers giving an Elk Grove Village hotel's address as that of the applicants.
Ryan, who was secretary of state at the time the scheme is alleged to have taken place, questioned the Better Government Association's motivations in calling the press conference and said his campaign fund will give to charity a sum close to what federal authorities say came from the license bribes. According to Maddox, trucker-training schools brought non-English-speaking students to Elk Grove Village to be licensed. Chicago Tribune (11/16/99) P. 1; Cole, Patrick; Cohen, Laurie
Skills Class Teaches Truckers How to Steer Clear of Road Hazards
The Michigan Center for Decision Driving aims to upgrade truckers' skills by offering a one-day course that takes place both in the classroom and behind the wheel. Detroit News Commuting columnist Tom Greenwood was invited out to the center and rode with trucker Gerald Stein while instructor Adonna Briske ran Stein through the "skid pad" course – concrete with a slick coating – over the radio.Briske, who drove more than 2 million crash-free miles in more than two decades as a trucker, had Stein stop on wet and dry pavement and perform various other maneuvers including handling jackknifes. Earlier, during the classroom session, Briske ran through the chief things that lead to crashes. The center expects to train more than 3,000 truckers in 1999. All but $25 of the $100 course fee is paid for by the Michigan Truck Safety Commission. Detroit News Online (11/16/99) ; Greenwood, Tom
Drivers Want Toll Taken Out of Driving
The Chicago Tribune polled voters in the Chicago region and found that 59% of those in Chicago and 66 percent of those in the suburbs like Gov. George Ryan's idea of eliminating tolls on highways in the area. According to the poll results, the respondents are more unhappy about the resulting congestion than the money.In addition to urging the elimination of the tolls, Ryan also told the State Toll Highway Authority to look into ways to reduce congestion. Officials at the authority said taxes would have to go up to maintain the highways without tolls, and that would upset people in other parts of Illinois, where there are no toll highways.
Before Ryan's September proposal to scuttle the tolls, Arthur Philip, who chairs the tollway board, was trying to have the tolls raised. He now proposes raising them for non-Illinois motorists and truckers only. Chicago Tribune (11/16/99) P. 1, Metro Chicago Section; Holt, Douglas
Carnegie Mellon Offers Truck Driver Training
Carnegie Mellon University's Driver Training and Safety Institute will open a high-tech training center in 2000 to teach new truck drivers the basics, train experienced drivers for emergencies, and train emergency vehicle drivers, according to assistant director of education programs Joe Bush.Institute President Gerard Meyer said that the center's chief purpose will be research integrating training with computers and large truck simulators, "black boxes," psychological profiles, and health and wellness. Students will work on various maneuvers on a driving range. The institute is also to create driver-training technology. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Online (11/16/99) ; Mortimer, C.M.
Elizabeth Tickets N.Y.C. Trucks
Police from Elizabeth, N.J., and Union County ticketed truckers crossing the Goethals Bridge from Staten Island, and Elizabeth Mayor J. Christian Bollwage stated his intention to "wreak havoc" upon a three-year plan under which New York City garbage is sent to New Jersey sites.The police inspected trucks at the end of the bridge and, according to Bollwage, roughly 40 truckers were given summonses in three hours starting at 9 a.m. Monday. In Fort Lee, across the George Washington Bridge from New York, Mayor Jack Alter said that if Elizabeth and Union County "want to get together on this thing, we'll join them."
The original New York City proposal, turned down by New Jersey Gov. Christine Whitman, was to send trash to New Jersey via barge for shipment out of state. On Monday, Whitman said New York must stick to the three-year plan but urged more checks for safety and pollution in parts of the state used by trucks from New York. The Union County Utilities Authority is also going to try to get a court order that would make Waste Management cease to accept New York City waste.
Garbage from Staten Island is shipped to Waste Management sites in Elizabeth. [According to the New York Times, New York City sanitation commissioner Kevin P. Farrell said four city trucks were ticketed and that the sanitation department would pay fines.] Bergen (N.J.) Record Online (11/16/99) ; Alvarez, Ashanti M.
State Has No Plans to Expand Truck Weighing
Alabama Transportation Department chief highway engineer Ray Bass says the expense of weigh stations is the main reason the state will not add to its lone weighing site, which is along I-20 in Heflin, although the state police want more. Another reason is because overweight trucks might try to use other roads so as not to go through the station.According to Bass, Alabama has 20 devices that weigh trucks as they move as well as portable truck scales. Alabama Trucking Association safety director Jean Vondreau says the state does fairly well now and has a cutting-edge station in Heflin, although more stations, troopers, and portable scales are necessary. Associated Press (11/15/99)
GeoLogistics Corporation Announces Third Quarter Operating Results
GeoLogistics said it saw a $28.2 million third-quarter operating loss, including $22.2 million in charges for restructuring the freight-forwarding unit, while the year-earlier quarter saw $246,000 in operating income, as revenues rose to $400 million from $388 million.Due to a roughly $70 million pretax gain from selling GeoLogistics Air Services, GeoLogistics saw a $504,000 net loss for the third quarter, while the year-earlier quarter saw a $2.5 million net loss. The company saw a $27.9 million net loss in the first nine months, from a $7.8 million net loss in the comparable 1998 period.
GeoLogistics is working on turning the Americas freight-forwarding operation's attention away from freight forwarding within the United States and toward international service. It has also altered its staffing in Europe to reflect trucking volume there. Business Wire (11/15/99)
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