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Spokesmen for two of the nation’s major railroads — Norfolk Southern and CSX — conceded that their service has "just not been good enough" in the wake of their split-up of Conrail. However, both companies insist things were improving. But some intermodal trucking companies suffered along with the two railroads, as shippers turned to over-the-road truckers.

Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater declared his commitment to working with American Trucking Associations to reduce truck-related fatalities, despite criticism from safety groups. "While some have criticized the department for working in partnership with ATA, I do not apologize for that," Slater said in a June 18 speech to the group’s board of directors.

Citing the increased use of information technology within the industry, American Trucking Associations has created a new policy committee devoted to the issue. ATA’s board of directors voted June 18 to create a new Technology & Engineering Committee that incorporates the current Technology Advisory Committee and the engineering component of the Safety & Engineering Committee.

Consolidated Freightways says it has a better idea for people who plan to move but don’t feel like paying to hire a moving company. CF will send a 28-foot trailer to your house, let you load it yourself and then come and get it. The service, which went “live” June 21, is being offered through the Menlo Park, Calif., company’s new e-commerce division.

Legal worries over patents are blocking adoption of an official standard for trailer-to-tractor warning communications. The patent issue frustrates backers of the electronic protocol called PLC4Trucks because they face a looming federal deadline to establish an accepted way to warn the driver of a faulty antilock braking system in a trailer.

Volvo, rumored in the past to be a possible purchaser of at least two other companies, has surfaced as the possible object of an acquisition by DaimlerChrysler. Dagens Industri, a daily business newspaper in Sweden, cited unnamed sources in reporting that the German-U.S. automaker will bid at least $17.7 billion for Volvo, the maker of transportation, construction, marine and aerospace equipment based in Stockholm, Sweden.

Commercial Equipment Company of Charlotte, N.C., changed its name to Lake Shore Pacific Corp. to better reflect its nationwide service network. Lake Shore Pacific will operate two regional dry van trucking divisions: Lake Shore Carrier (formerly Special Transport Service), based in Charlotte and Pacific Carrier, based in Santa Clara, Calif.

Less than a year after paying $19.3 million to buy 2.1 million shares of TransFinancial Holdings’ stock to thwart a takeover by the company’s two largest shareholders, three members of the board of directors have offered to buy out all the remaining shares for $5.25 a share, or about $17.1 million.

In a June 18 speech that boldly laid out his approach to improving safety on the highways, Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater reaffirmed the Clinton administration’s commitment to a government that works better and costs less. In doing so, Slater responded in a dramatic way to criticism by safety advocates who complained the secretary was working too closely with trucking on educational programs, research and policy initiatives.