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Bitter 6-Month Strike at Overnite Poses a Test for Teamsters' Chief

The Teamsters intend to file a racketeering suit against Overnite, claiming the carrier has committed hundreds of labor-law violations to keep from signing a contract; Overnite recently filed a racketeering suit against the union claiming Teamsters members are responsible for shootings of Overnite drivers.

Meanwhile, a number of labor-movement leaders believe the Overnite dispute is important because, they say, Overnite's behavior shows how a company can avoid signing a contract even after workers vote to be unionized. There are still no contracts for employees at several terminals that voted to join the Teamsters over half a decade ago.

Some pickets at Overnite's Atlanta terminal recently said their strike has more to do with the company's treatment of workers than money or benefits. Although it denies Hoffa's charges that the company is not negotiating in good faith, Overnite is not likely to settle with the union anytime soon because of the union's desire to put Overnite workers in the union's pension fund.

Hoffa also claims Overnite would have saved money by settling rather than spending what it has during the strike. New York Times (05/07/00) P. A24; Greenhouse, Steven

Trucks Carrying Hazardous Cargo Getting Free Pass

City Prosecutor Steve MacIntosh said one issue is that the law says the city fire department must determine whether the law has been broken, but firefighters cannot patrol the highways or pull over trucks.

Police are likely to give traffic tickets for driving hazmats inside the city's Outerbelt, or Interstate 270, instead of calling in the fire department to determine whether the city law had been broken.

A Chemical Emergency Preparedness Council of Franklin County study in 1996 found that one-third of trucks with hazmat stickers drove into the city on I-70 and I-71 rather than taking I-270. But the study could not say how many were breaking the law, since hazmat trucks can enter the city to make pickups or deliveries there. Gasoline trucker Greg Hunt said truckers know that hazmat trucks have to take the Outerbelt, and truckers advise others of that fact on the CB.

Signs telling hazmat trucks to take the Outerbelt were erected in 1987, following an accident involving a liquid-nitrogen truck that occurred near the city's downtown. After that, the few truckers who received citations for breaking the law were cited after being in accidents, the Columbus Dispatch reported in 1989.

Franklin County Emergency Management Agency Executive Director J.R. Thomas said the point of the signs was to discourage hazmat trucks from entering the city, and the city has not seen any accidents as bad as the 1987 liquid-nitrogen truck crash. Columbus Dispatch (05/07/00) P. 1A; Caruso, Doug

Mack Trucks Chief Expects Layoffs at Winnsboro Plant

While this may mean layoffs at Winnsboro, there will not be "hundreds" of jobs cut, and the company is trying to find a solution that will not harm workers, he said Friday at the Winnsboro plant. Associated Press (05/06/00)

Canadians Helping to Build Smart Roads - in the U.S.

In the United States, with its nationwide program for road funding, Fortran makes more than 90% of its revenue, while selling only a few systems in Canada, where highway funding is done on a provincial basis and not much is spent on maintaining the roads.

The U.S. government is helping ITS grow in the United States, where President Clinton recently told the military to stop scrambling GPS satellite systems; this order could make GPS systems ten times as accurate. But Canada apparently does not understand the importance of ITS, said International Road Dynamics President Terry Bergan; his company, based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, is working with transportation officials in Utah and Virginia.

Many other Canadian ITS-related companies are frustrated with their lack of renown in their own country. CAE Electronics is hopeful about its proposal to the Montreal Urban Community, under which it would track police cars as they drive through Montreal and allow the police department to call the nearest cars to an emergency scene.

Other Canadian ITS-related companies, including iMPath Networks, Nortel Networks, and Mark IV IVHS, are also beginning to bring their services to Canada or are pursuing deals to do so. Montreal Gazette (05/06/00) P. C1; Shalom, Francois

Decision Put Off on Hauling Wide Mobile ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøs

A current restricted pilot program allows some manufacturers to haul the wide mobile homes on North Carolina highways. While safety advocates say the wide loads are dangerous because many roads in the state have only 12-foot-wide lanes, manufacturers say the wide mobile homes are allowed on the highways in most states.

The industry would be willing to discuss such restrictions as time limits, higher fines for breaking the rules, or trucker training and certification programs, said N.C. Manufactured Housing Association attorney Jim Phillips. Raleigh News and Observer (05/05/00) P. A3; Perez, Lorenzo

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