P.M. Executive Briefing - July 7
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Hours of Service Hearings Draw to Close
Sixteen days of public hearings since May 31, on a U.S. Department of Transportation proposal to change truckers' hours-of-service regulations, end today in Washington with testimony by several trucking trade assocations, safety groups and others. Witnesses today included the American Movers and Storage Assn., National Intermodal Trucking Assn., and Commercial Vehicle Training Assn.As at previous hearings, few testified in support of the DOT regulatory proposal. Those who did include the Association for Highway and Auto Safety, and Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways.
The hearings began and ended in Washington but went across the country. Nearly 1,900 people attended and 703 testified. The docket remains open until Oct. 30 for DOT to collect more information, and many who testified plan to later provide more detail on the likely economic impact. A Teamsters representative said the union will looking at the impact on drivers and on highway safety. David Barnes, senior correspondent
Parent of Crouse, Specialized Says New Financing Arranged for Both
TransFinancial Holdings, Inc., a Lenexa, Kan. holding company with businesses in truck transportation and financial services, reported completion of financing arrangements for both its regional general-freight Crouse Cartage and its Specialized Transport units.TFH said they finalized credit facilities Friday for more than $23 million, based on the companies' eligible freight accounts receivable, the revenue equipment and real estate. The proceeds were mainly used to replace $18.7 million of bank loans and provide more liquidity, TFH said.
It added that on May 26, Universal Premium Acceptance Corporation executed a new receivable securitization facility, which increases the maximum availability credit to $80 million from $70 million and extends the term five years with annual liquidity renewals. This facility replaces and fully retired the prior securitization. TFM said these financing arrangements "provide the additional liquidity each operation requires to improve and grow in the coming years." Transport Topics
FedEx And UPS Among Fortune's Top 50 Companies For Minorities
Federal Express, United Parcel Service and Cummins Engine Company, Inc. were among Fortune magazine's list of 50 best companies for minorities, which was published this week.On a list that was topped by Advantica, the owner of the Denny's restaurant chain, FedEx came in at 27. The magazine credited the Memphis-based shipping company, which ranked 15 last year, for "home-growing minority talent through programs like mentoring." But it criticized FedEx for not having any minorities on it board of directors.
UPS rose from 35 last year to 31 in this year's list. The company's practice of sending its managers to communities different from their own was highlighted by Fortune's review.
A newcomer to the list was Cummins Engine, which came in at 47. The Columbus, Ind.-based diesel engine maker charts employee diversity in areas including representation, recruiting, hiring and retention, and has diversity council's at all its plants. Transport Topics
Trucking Company Owner Robbed Bank to Pay Oil Debt
The owner of a small trucking company in North Carolina pleaded guilty this week to robbing a bank in his attempt to pay a mounting debt to an oil company, the Associated Press reported Friday.Rodney Alan Mabe, who owns Flash Trucking, also pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm during the May 10 robbery of Seagrove's First National Bank. The armed robbery charge carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and discharging a firearm has a minimum of 10 years by North Carolina law. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Nov. 1.
Mabe's company owed more than $15,500 to Econo Oil Company, Inc. for oil purchases. His take in the robbery was about $17,000. Transport Topics
Rail Groups Says Intermodal on Pace to Top '99 Record
Rail-hauled intermodal freight, carried either in rail-truck containers or in truck trailers mounted piggyback on rail flatcars, is on a pace to top the record 9.04 million units hauled by major U.S. railroads during 1999, the Association of American Railroads said. The AAR said intermodal rail traffic was up 3.7% in June over June 1999; for the year through June, intermodal traffic is up 3.3%. Meanwhile, rail hauls of other cargoes not carried as intermodal freight is up just 1% so far this year. Transport TopicsColorado Engineers Eyeing Tolls, Tunnel in I-70 High Country
State highway department engineers in Colorado are reconsidering tolls and perhaps another tunnel along parts of Interstate 70 to curb traffic congestion in the Rocky Mountains, Associated Press reports. The toll idea, looked at but dropped two years ago, is again a topic in public hearings for a stretch of I-70 between Golden and Glenwood Springs. Also being eyed is perhaps planning to bore a new tunnel through the mountain near Idaho Springs, or enlarging twin tunnels already there, AP said. I-70-is a prime highway transportation route. Transport TopicsArkansas Contracts to Fix Deadly Curve
Arkansas' state highway commission has awarded a contract to redesign a deadly two-lane curve on U.S. 63 known as the Cold Springs Curve, widening lanes and boosting its speed limit, the Associated Press reported.The $4.9-million project will remove a bluff that makes the road curve; its accident history include a 1997 Christmas Eve crash that killed five members of a Missouri family, AP added. This and other road improvements will be made in the area between the towns of Mammoth Spring and Hardy. Transport Topics
Arizona DOT Report Opens Up Fast Lane To Truckers
A report from the Arizona Department of Transportation concluded that forcing big rigs to follow a different speed limit than passenger cars would make highways more unsafe, the Associated Press reported this week.The state DOT report clears the way for truck drivers to use the fast lanes and travel at the same speed as passenger cars. State legislation seeking to post a 65 mph speed limit to trucks on some of Arizona's rural highways required a study be done to determine if such action would improve highway safety Transport Topics
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