Trucking Technology Report - Dec. 8
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Today's Technology Headlines:
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FCC Moves to Prolong Area Codes' Use by Curbing Issue of New Phone Numbers
The FCC ruled yesterday that telecom carriers have to expend 60% of the phone numbers allotted to them in a specified area code before they can receive new ones, with the number increasing to 75% in three years. The decision is intended to stop telcos from stockpiling phone numbers to handle new subscribers. The agency also made the decision as a way to avoid the issue of new area codes.
The FCC adopted new rules earlier in the year that allowed phone numbers to be assigned in blocks of 1,000 and required the return of unused numbers. FCC commissioners also decided Thursday to consider a market-based system for phone number assignments and a fee-based system for the acquisition of phone numbers. Wall Street Journal (12/08/00) P. B8; Carroll, Jill
Telecoms' Wireless Hopes Kept Alive at ITU Meeting
The International Telecommunications Union Asia conference met this week to discuss strategies for financing and making revenues from wireless technology.Mike Butcher, who heads Lucent Technologies (LU), attended the conference and expressed his view that data traffic services are costing carriers substantial funds, but have yet to turn a significant revenue. During recent months, the top ten telecom firms in the world have seen their market capitalizations go down by an estimated $215 billion.
The conference also had exhibition halls set up to display the latest in 3G technology prototypes and other wireless products. Reuters (12/08/00); Munroe, Tony; Stevenson, Reed
To Ship Is Human, to Receive, Divine
As the holiday shopping season moves into full swing, online retailers say they are ready to fulfill every customer's order as quickly as possible. For many retailers that means a return to the cavernous distribution centers of the brick-and-mortar retailing industry.EToys, even though its fulfillment rate in the 1999 holiday season was 99%, has built two such centers this year, one in Blairs, Va., the other in Ontario, Calif. The company also hired Ted Augustine as the head of its distribution operations.
Augustine has been successful with several companies and last year was distribution head for Gateway Computer. At Gateway he oversaw an ambitious plan to deliver computers ordered before Dec. 23 by Dec. 24. They missed only nine out of 36,000 ordered, Augustine said, blaming missed orders on weather or recipients who were not at home.
This year eToys has made a similar delivery promise: order before midnight Pacific time on Dec. 23 to get packages by Christmas Eve. To match this promise, eToys has built a 1.2-million sq. ft. distribution center. The center employs 1,200 and has been designed for up to 90,000 items being packaged at any one time.
Augustine believes that such a center remains efficient when management pays attention to what he says is the "mass of minutiae." For example, he must make sure that the conveyor belt stays dry enough that carrying bins do not begin to slip and that the printing room is not too humid. New York Times (12/07/00) P. E1; Guernsey, Lisa
Trash Can Profiteers
SalvageSale.com is a new startup that operates an online exchange and auction marketplace for the world's $50 billion junk market. SalvageSale.com handles heavily discounted or distressed goods. Sellers include insurance and transportation companies or manufacturers, and range from large retail chains to small manufacturers and exporters.SalvageSale.com earns a 10% to 12% commission for negotiating transactions. While distribution channels for surplus goods are already in place, SalvageSale.com is the first to capitalize on damaged goods.
Company CEO Dan Parsely says that the Internet is ideal for the heavily fragmented junk market because it adds a measure of organization. Smart Business (12/00) Vol. 13, No. 12, P. 59; Cardwell, Annette
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