P.M. Executive Briefing - Sept. 5

• Headlines From Today's A.M. Briefing

Leading Transport Analyst Cuts Five Trucking Firms' Ratings

Truckload carriers haul trailers or containers full of goods for a single shipper, while less-than-truckload carriers consolidate parcels from various shippers into full loads and haul them out of major consolidation terminals.

Valentine cut his earnings estimates were cut on J.B. Hunt Transport Services, MS Carriers, Swift Transportation, Werner Enterprises and U.S. Xpress Enterprises. Shares of all five companies fell in Tuesday-morning trading, the article said.

Recall Spreads of Buses, Trucks Over ABS Problems

The Bendix units are used on the International Series 9000 trucks that were among the various commercial trucks reported by Transport Topics' online news last week to be on the recall list. Also, the St. Petersburg Times reports that Thomas Built Buses, a division of truck maker Freightliner, are included in the recall.

According to a spokesman for Bendix parent company Honeywell International, vehicles using these systems could lose braking ability for as much as four seconds at speeds of 20 miles per hour or less due to a design problem, the WSJ article said.

Bendix told Freightliner in June that a San Francisco school bus had experienced a tempo-rary loss of braking capacity, though its driver was able to stop the bus, the Times said.

Forty incidents have been reported involving the Bendix systems, 16 of which involved school buses, the Journal said. No figure was given for incidents involving heavy trucks. Transport Topics

France Begins to Ration Gasoline Due to Trucker Blockade

The rationing comes in several forms, including restriction of amounts sold to average motorists or first earmarking some fuel for emergecny services, the article said. Some gas stations are implementing their own form of rationing by only filling tanks halfway.

Should the blockades continue, many fear supplies that would drop to such a level that cars, trucks and other gasoline-powered vehicles would be unable to operate, according to Bloomberg. Transport Topics

Economy Has Yet to Feel Effects of Oil Price Jump, OPIS Warns

The rise in the wholesale price of gasoline and diesel in August have yet to affect street prices, OPIS said. Modest pump price increases or even slight decreases were noted in U.S. cities for the month.

Thanks to this, a margin squeeze is on and some dealers are losing money on gasoline, the report said. And when the price hikes trickle down in the diesel market, OPIS says, trucking companies and others in the transportation industry may have to tack on another round of fuel surcharges.

With OPEC's meeting in Vienna coming up this month, and pressure being applied to the Clinton/Gore administration to cool oil prices in the face of the presidential election, OPIS said September will be a pivotal month for oil markets. Transport Topics

CarrierPoint, Viewlocity To Offer New Business Solution For Shippers and Carriers

CarrierPoint has agreed to use Viewlocity's AMTrix Integration Broker to integrate its own Dynamic Shipping Marketplace with the electronic communications systems used by its customers. That CarrierPoint service connects shippers and carriers through a "data warehouse," providing an e-marketplace for less-than-truckload and truckload freight. Transport Topics

Logistics.com Turns to Cukor for Software

PMCA will help Logistics.com integrate its OptiDispatch and OptiSchedule software for customers. Federal Express, United Parcel Service and Consolidated Freightways are among the transportation companies using Cukor's Internet-based services.

Burlington, Mass.-based Logistics.com markets its products to shippers, transportation providers and third-party logistics managers for land, air and ocean freight moves. Transport Topics

Newgistics Helps Create Return Network

AIM Mail Centers, Associated Mail & Parcel Centers, Handle With Care Packaging Store, Neighborhood Postal Centers, Pak Mail, Parcel Plus, PostalAnnex+ and PostNet International Franchise Corp., and other independently owned centers have joined the ReturnValet network. This service will provide catalogue and on-line shoppers with 4,000 locations to make face-to-face returns.

R.R. Donnelley Logistics Services and USF Processors are also part of the ReturnValet team, the announcement said. Transport Topics

Headlines From Today's A.M. Briefing

• Mitsubishi, DaimlerChrysler Discuss Management Changes in Wake of Scandal
• French Truckers, Farmers Launch Crippling Fuel Protests
• Tire Maker Avoids Strike With Labor Day Union Deal
• CSX Corp. Selling Logistics Unit
• Pacer Completes GTS Acquisition
• Accuride Forms Alliance With Italy's Gianetti
• Satsafe, Nokia, Europolitan Link Up in Truck Tracking
• Oil Prices Climb Upward as OPEC Contemplates Output Boost
• OTR Warns It Will Report Third-Quarter Loss
• L.A. Transit Strike Avoided for Now
• Lazer Transportation to Develop U.S.-U.K. Trade Service Group
• Nissan May Write off $5.1 Million Debt From Trucking Companies