Trucking Technology Report - Aug. 8
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Both the online report and e-mail are sponsored by @Track Communications, a supplier of wireless communications and dispatch services.
Today's Technology Headlines:
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Callers Feeling Impact of Strike at Verizon
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Negotiators proceeded with discussions focused on coming to a consensus on job security and working conditions. However, by the end of the day, new disagreements developed over the amount of work Verizon may move to a lower-paying unit. Several issues have developed, according to Communications Workers of America spokesman Jeff Miller. CWA represents 72,000 workers along the East Coast, including customer-service representatives, operators, and repair workers. Verizon spokesman Eric Rabe said his company still believes a resolution could come in a few days.
Sources said details have yet to be finalized on a plan to allow the unions to organize employees of Verizon's wireless unit. But it has not yet been decided how much required overtime operators should have to work and whether the company should allow some flexibility to move work to less expensive areas of the country. Such issues pushed representatives of union workers in New York and New England to abandon talks Monday afternoon. However, official talks are expected to resume today. Washington Post (08/08/00) P. E1; Goodman, Peter S.
Former Circle CEO Heads Logistics Dot-Com
The new Web-based business-to-business exchange SupplyLinks is headed by David I. Beatson, formerly chief executive of Circle International Group. The supply-chain network will be financed initially by New Meadows Venture Partners.Beatson indicates that his company will simplify the supply chain, better efficiency, lower client costs, and optimize transportation routing. The ability to provide procurement and transportation services makes SupplyLinks unique among business-to-business electronic commerce providers.
The company will be limited in its choices of shippers dues to the fact that it requires potential forwarders and carriers to register with the company. During the fourth quarter of this year, SupplyLinks will start
eta-testing with some shippers and will go online by February or March of 2001, according to Beatson. Journal of Commerce Online (08/07/00); Armbruster, William
Old-line Firms Team Up for Web Efficiencies
Large companies are flexing their collective muscles to build giant online exchanges and marketplaces, hoping to reap competitive benefits and cost efficiencies.Old-line companies such as International Paper, Sears, and Ford are partnering with competitors to increase supply-chain efficiency, compete with business-to-business (B2B) dot-coms, and bolster revenues. Consultants say cost savings are the more likely and beneficial results than profits; one analyst says that if processing a purchase order offline costs $125 to $175 now, an order processed online can cost only $10 to $15.
These neutral partnerships, called NewCos, do face challenges, ncluding longstanding rivalries between industry giants – especially automakers – and the attendant unwillingness to share business information.
Though current estimates are for the number of B2B exchanges to reach 5,000 by 2002, insiders believe the figure will drop to just 10 to 30 over the next 10 years. The exchanges also must keep antitrust considerations before them, as the Federal Trade Commission is watching industry developments. Red Herring (08/00) No. 81, P. 121; Henig, Peter D.
UK Industry Minister Backs Hands-Free Cell Phone Finding
A British government report sponsored by the Department of Trade and Industry rebukes claims that hands-free mobile phone earpieces increase radiation exposure to users of cell phones.The country's telecom minister, Patricia Hewitt, said the study shows that hands-free kits actually reduce significantly the radiation exposure to the user, when compared to using a typical cell phone.
The report, which was published today, provides findings in opposition to an earlier study conducted by the Consumer's Association that found that kits actually directed over three times the normal amount of radiation generated from a cell phone toward the user's head.
Though the new study, which was conducted by independent consultancy firm SARtest, conceded that kits could direct high levels of radiation to the user's head, these situations are rare and do not occur during normal wireless phone use. The tests were conducted on five types of phones, including models with both internal and external antennae. Financial Times (08/08/00) P. 7; Adams, Christopher; Shrimsley, Robert
Handheld Computers Become More Diverse
The market for personal digital assistants (PDAs) may get shaken up with the growing diversity of Palm-based devices on the market. These Palm clones feature modified expansion slots that afford greater storage and functionality.Handspring's Visor handheld, for example, has a Springboard slot that can accommodate upcoming modules for games, a digital camera, a modem, and a music player.
The differences among various PDAs appear to be growing, and Palm's announcement earlier this year that its operating system will now support Sony's Memory Stick device adds fuel to the fire. A prototype of the Memory Stick-adapted PDA was on display at the PC Expo 2000, where Palm also announced its transition to the Secure Digital (SD) Card co-developed by SanDisk, Toshiba, and Matsushita, among others. The SD Card targets secure storage space for protected content and will later house memory modules as well as peripherals.
Also at the expo, TRG Products promoted its TRGPro, which uses the CompactFlash expansion interface to give it a wide range of storage capacity as well as peripherals; but TRG is concentrating in niches such as trucking and health care rather than focusing on the mass market.
All this diversifying technology could derail Palm's sales if the company does not work toward standardization. Commverge (08/00) P. 25; Wright, Maury
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