P.M. Executive Briefing - Oct. 29
This Afternoon's Headlines:
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Teamsters Take Overnite Strike to 2nd Hauler
Two strikers were escorted by police, but not arrested, Thursday from the property of Little Rock, Ark., based Davis Transfer Co., which has been carrying cargo on behalf of Overnite Transportation.The owner of Davis Transfer says he summoned police due to threats from the strikers. But the Teamsters still intend to keep up picketing at Davis Transfer, and Ron Heath of Local 878 says Teamsters lawyers were to tell the city and police of that intention Thursday.
According to Overnite officials, the strike has not interfered with deliveries even though the nationwide strike has expanded to 120 out of 166 company terminals. The union has reported that picketers have been hurt around the United States and two were hit by company trucks. The strike, which claims unfair labor practices, has been backed by a statement Vice President Al Gore released Thursday at an AFL-CIO convention, in which Gore said Overnite has harassed union backers. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Online (10/29/99); Lovel, Jim
For a Truck Maker, 18 Wheels of Product Placement
Kenworth Truck Co. is contributing almost $1 million and its big rigs to TNN's show, "18 Wheels of Justice," that debuts in January.Promised a spot in the closing credits and six or more minutes onscreen per episode, the fourth-largest heavy truck manufacturer in the United States hopes the television series will improve the image of the trucking industry. The company also hopes to promote cutting-edge technology like an in-dash computer, infrared camera, and voice-activated log.
The show involves a benevolent ex-police officer roaming the highways in a Kenworth T2000. While a promo for the series depicts some truck crashes and tipovers, a company spokesman says Kenworth knew there would be some such action in the program in order to attract viewers.
Kenworth, a unit of Bellevue, Wash.-based Paccar Inc., has worked with Hollywood previously when it furnished trucks for movies such as "B.J. and the Bear" and "Smokey and the Bandit." But the company is not always happy with the way trucks are depicted on the silver screen. Wall Street Journal (10/29/99) P. B1; Beatty, Sally
Ex-Trucking Company Owner Charged
Robert J. Schippers, 51, who owned the now-closed Easton, Pa., trucking firm Schippers Services, and Ronald Padula, 46, who was head mechanic, have been hit with charges of environmental violations by a federal grand jury. The indictment alleges such behavior as including hauling gasoline and other hazardous materials in leaky tanks, pumping hazardous liquid from a tank beneath the wash bay into the sewer system, and creating fake inspection equipment. False statements are also alleged.The federal Transportation Department and Environmental Protection Agency spent three years probing the company. Schippers, who had no comment, and Padula, whose lawyer would not comment, have been indicted on 46 counts. Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) Online (10/29/99) ; Grossman, Elliot; Averett, Nancy
Caltrans Sent Several Other Big Rigs Over Failed Bridge
According to Caltrans sources, the agency's permit office did not know about the weight limits or the temporary bridge on Highway 246 in the vicinity of Lompoc, Calif., when it approved routes over the span for six or more overweight rigs during the two weeks the bridge was in use. The bridge fell last week soon after being crossed by a D&J Trucking rig much heavier than capacity, causing another vehicle to fall some 30 feet.Acrow Corp. of America, which made the bridge, says trucks over the bridge's capacity would need to go very slowly and be subject to other restrictions, and it says Caltrans told Acrow that there would be appropriate limits on speed. But the unnamed sources say the permit office never heard about it.
The trucker whose rig crossed just before the collapse, Jon Milby, says his permit did not tell him to drive slowly. He was going near the highway's marked limit of 55 mph, he says. He was not ticketed by the highway patrol because the patrol found he had obeyed the permit. Los Angeles Times (10/29/99) P. 1A; Garvey, Megan
Landstar Ranks High Among InformationWeek's Most Innovative IT Users
Landstar System was number 93 on the InformationWeek 500 Leading Innovative Companies, which ranks companies' use of information technology. Landstar, which came in number six in the transportation category, got gold medals for e-business and for customer management. In two other categories, business processes/enterprise resource planning and application development, Landstar was awarded silver medals. PR Newswire (10/29/99)Nissan Diesel Aims to Cut Debt to Y450 Bln
By the March close of its fiscal year, Nissan Diesel Motor intends a reduction in consolidated interest-bearing debt to 450 billion yen.Renault had requested that the company get its debt lower than 400 billion yen, according to an unnamed company official. Any Nissan Diesel stock holdings or real estate might be sold, the official says. When the fiscal year began, the debt level was slightly above 500 billion yen. [Agence France Presse reported Oct. 29 that Nissan Diesel's net loss for the first half of the fiscal year was $255 million, close to three times the year-earlier figure, with a 2.4% increase in revenue.] Reuters (10/29/99)
Loads of Benefit
Following three years of development, Canadian Pacific Railway's bulk rail/truck transfer facility at the Philadelphia Naval Business Center made its debut Thursday.A spokesman for Philadelphia's mayor says CPR joins CSX and Norfolk Southern as top-rank railroads in the city and that CPR is to "make more use of the city as a transportation center." St. Lawrence & Hudson Railway President and CEO Jacques J. Cote says the facility will help companies without rail sidings save money and avoid highway congestion by shipping via rail with only a local truck haul.
CPR, whose rail facility at the Port of Philadelphia opened in 1991, is the parent company of St. Lawrence & Hudson Railway. Philadelphia Daily News Online (10/29/99) ; Meltzer, Marc
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