P.M. Executive Summary - Oct. 22
This Afternoon's Headlines:
ul>
Truck Crackdown Tips the Scales for Safety
Illinois State Troopers were conducting simultaneous random truck inspections in three different places Thursday. Trooper Bart Lamb says that ordinarily inspectors shuttle around, with one weigh station open each day, and truckers find out and avoid that station.On Thursday, 18 trucks were put out of service by troopers at the U.S. 41 weigh station in Wadsworth. The other two locations were on the I-94 toll road. The state police operation was led by Lt. Harold Masse, who says there were calls on the CB "as far away as Ohio warning truckers about our checkpoints." Chicago Tribune Online (10/22/99) ; Flink, John
Volvo, Scania Face EU Probe
It is anticipated that the European Union Commission will probe the planned Volvo-Scania merger, which would give the combined company 31% of the EU heavy-truck market, for competition reasons. Such an inquiry usually leads to concessions and disposals from the companies under investigation.Volvo Chief Executive Leif Johanson says profits will not be hurt by the inquiry. Analysts also worry about the market force of a combined Volvo-Scania in Brazil and elsewhere in South America. Financial Times (10/22/99) P. 30
Renault Says No Offer from DaimlerChrysler on Nissan Diesel
At a Friday press conference with the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, Renault Chairman and Chief Executive Louis Schweitzer said no competing firm had offered to take on the French company's 22.5% share of Nissan Diesel.Schweitzer referred to news that the head of a competing company, which previously declined an investment in the Japanese truckmaker, might decide to invest after Nissan Diesel successfully addressed its debt troubles.
Although Schweitzer did not give the competitor's name, it was evident that he was describing Juergen Schrempp, co-chairman of DaimlerChrysler. Agence France Presse (10/22/99)
Audit of Waste Management Uncovers More Problems, Requires More Changes
According to an unnamed source, Waste Management Inc. will soon announce that a charge up to $1 billion for the third quarter will be needed to take care of accounting difficulties dug up by auditors from Arthur Andersen and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Other accounting problems led to the $3.54 billion pretax charge taken prior to the Waste Management-USA Waste merger in 1998.The current audit began after the July disclosure that the company's second-quarter estimates included non-recurring earnings but did not say so at first. Since then, the company has shed executives and is now looking for a new CEO. "We want to deliver an absolutely pristine set of books to our new CEO," says acting chairman Ralph V. Whitworth. Sources say the CEO search is close to an end. Wall Street Journal (10/22/99) P. A3; Bailey, Jeff
VW's Piech Not Interested in Acquiring Nissan Diesel
Reasoning that Volkswagen AG would have a less costly time creating its own truckmaking operation, Chairman Ferdinand Piech said the German automaker has no interest in a purchase of the troubled Nissan Diesel, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. AFX News (10/22/99)Dana Heavy Truck Group's Spicer Heavy Axle and Brake Facility Receives Ohio Governor's Excellence in Workers' Compensation Award
The Marion Forge site of Spicer Heavy Axle and Brake Division was one of 14 recipients of the 1999 Ohio Governor's Excellence in Workers' Compensation Award. The plant features an environmental safety manager and a nurse as well as a plan to help employees who have been injured come back on the job."In recent years, the Marion Forge plant's safety programs have received more awards and recognition than any other plant in the forging industry," says Larry Shump, the plant manager. The Spicer division is part of the Dana Corp. Heavy Truck Group. PR Newswire (10/21/99)
Safety Report Ignored by Alberta Government
Terry Budreo, a retired safety officer from the Alberta Ministry of Labor, says an Occupational Health and Safety manager told him to keep quiet after the safety officer reported that logging trucks' increasing usage of lightweight bulkheads made of aluminum between the cab and trailer was dangerous and could be deadly.Budreo says that he was told not to talk to truckers about the problem and not to attend meetings of a public-private task force on logging-truck safety. He had been a member of the task force before being removed by the manager, he says. He first told Deputy Minister Shelly Ewart-Johnson about the hazards in March 1998, Budreo says.
On Tuesday, the Human Resource and Employment office put out a written response in which communication officer Ed Sager said that the department had looked into the issue and found that the safety rules in force were enough.
Budreo says the safety officers realized the problem when the Workers' Compensation Board in British Columbia looked into accidents, including one death, in that province in 1998 and found that the bulkheads were not up to British Columbia's specific standards. The safety legislation in Alberta mentions bulkheads briefly but does not have precise requirements, he says. Daily Herald-Tribune (Grande Prairie, Alberta) Online (10/21/99); Guerette, Deb
Truck Carrying Explosives Flips
A tractor-trailer hauling 18,000 kilograms of liquid dynamite rolled over in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, on Thursday, leading to the hours-long shutdown of a stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway. The load was moved onto a different trailer. There were no residences nearby and no injuries. Big Bras d'Or Fire Chief Keith Bain says the accident "is an eye opener for everyone because we don't know what is being transported on our highways." Canadian Press (10/21/99)© copyright 1999 INFORMATION, INC. Terms of Service
