Faced with intense worldwide competition and a narrowing quality gap, tire makers are beginning to look beyond selling tires to distinguish themselves in the truck market.

Faced with intense worldwide competition and a narrowing quality gap, tire makers are beginning to look beyond selling tires to distinguish themselves in the truck market.

Michelin North America is buying Tire Centers Inc. of Akron, Ohio, one of the nation’s largest independent tire dealers and a recent convert to Michelin’s new retread tire technology.

The chairman of Roadway Express said a slow recovery from a threatened strike in 1998 has forced the company to look for opportunities outside of its core freight hauling business.

Despite complaints from munitions haulers, the Department of Defense is moving forward with a plan to use a third-party electronic freight payment system to compensate freight carriers.

Public Opinion indicates that a lot of people appreciate truck drivers but don’t really understand the nuts and bolts of the industry and may not realize how much it is doing to improve highway safety.

James P. Hoffa was finally sworn in as general president of the Teamsters union March 22, and he immediately turned his attention to trucking issues.

General Parcel Service, a package carrier based in Jacksonville, Fla., that spawned Transit Group of Atlanta in June 1997 and was spun off to a new management group a few months later, has merged with Bank Air Courier of Columbia, S.C., and Anderson Armored Car/Courier Division in Anderson, S.C., and has adopted a new name — Momentum Logistics.

Public Opinion indicates that a lot of people appreciate truck drivers but don’t really understand the nuts and bolts of the industry and may not realize how much it is doing to improve highway safety.

The federal government will give motor freight carriers more time to file 1998 annual reports. It also is soliciting comments on a proposal to restrict public access to some sensitive carrier financial and operating data.