Iowa Tanklines Inc has completed the asset purchase of Darryl B Taylor Transportation, a Roosevelt UT-based tank truck carrier. A family-owned carrier, Darryl B Taylor transports crude oil, refined petroleum, and asphalt products throughout Utah and surrounding states.
Darryl B Taylor's assets include 22 tractors and 69 lead trailers, pup trailers, and converter dollies. All drivers and nondriving staff have made the transition to Iowa Tanklines.
Iowa Tanklines, a liquid bulk carrier based in Omaha NE, has locations throughout Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, and Utah. The company operates 145 power units.
Responsible Care Adds Bork Transport Bork Transport Inc of Summit IL became one of the newest Responsible Care partners in September 2000. The tank truck carrier was sponsored by Ed Schmidt at Ashland Chemical and Mike French at Monsanto Co.
The list of Responsible Care partners now totals 65. A community outreach program of the American Chemistry Council, Responsible Care is focused on promoting best practices for manufacture and distribution of chemicals.
J P Donmoyer Among `Best Places to Work' J P Donmoyer Inc, a technological transportation company, headquartered in Ono PA, with offices in York PA, was honored as one of the top 100 "Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania" at an awards luncheon in Harrisburg PA recently.
This program was created by Gov Tom Ridge to identify, recognize, and honor the best places of employment in Pennsylvania. Winners were chosen by the Great Place to Work Institute Inc using the same formula as Fortune magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work for in America."
J P Donmoyer was ranked 26th in the medium-size category (50 to 250 employees) and was the only transportation company honored in the top 100.
FIBA Technologies Opens New Division FIBA Technologies Inc has opened a new division near Denver CO. Mountain Testing & Sales will perform ultrasonic and acoustic emission retesting of cylinders and tube trailers as well as shotblasting, painting, and other maintenance. High-pressure-equipment sales and leasing also will be offered. The facility is located at 601B West Bates Avenue, Englewood CO 80433. The on-site facility manager, Rob Lofgren, can be phoned at 303-783-9515.
This is the seventh FIBA facility and will service the Midwest and West.
New Pig Corp Acquires Absorbent Supplier New Pig Corp has acquired EEP (formerly Ergon Environmental Products), an industrial distributor and manufacturer of absorbent products headquartered in Alpharetta GA. Under terms of the agreement, EEP will remain its own entity and will operate independently from New Pig and New Pig's subsidiary, Spill Tech Industries Inc.
EEP supplies polypropylene absorbent products used for industrial maintenance and environmental spill applications. It has manufacturing and distribution facilities located in Alpharetta, Houston TX, Bayonne NJ, New Orleans LA, Seattle WA, and Long Beach CA.
Barry Greer will remain as president and CEO of EEP, and all of EEP's employees will be retained.
Philip Services Corp Consolidates Businesses Philip Services Corp (PSC) has announced organizational changes. The company has consolidated its former Eastern and Western Regions and its electrical contracting and process instrumentation business into a new Industrial Outsourcing Group, and its former By-Products Management and Specialty businesses into a new By-Products Services Group.
Industrial Outsourcing provides industrial cleaning, maintenance, mechanical, pipe fabricating, electrical contracting, process instrumentation, and turnaround and outage services. David E Fanta, senior vice-president, will lead this division. He joined PSC in 1997 through acquisition of Allwaste Inc, an industrial cleaning and maintenance company based in Houston TX. Combined annual revenue of the new PSC Industrial Outsourcing Group is approximately $700 million.
By-Products Services provides hazardous and nonhazardous waste collection, processing and disposal, container and tank cleaning, and analytical services. Brian Recatto, senior vice-president, will lead this division. He joined PSC in 1997 with the acquisition of his company, Eltex Inc, an industrial waste services company based in Houston. Combined annual revenue of the new PSC By-Products Services Group is about $300 million.
TMA, Mexican Counterpart Sign Agreement The Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with its Mexican counterpart, the National Association of the Producers of Buses, Trucks, and Truck-Tractors (ANPACT). The MOU was signed Nov 16, 2000, in Guadalajara, Mexico. According to William A Leasure Jr, TMA executive director, "The goal of the agreement is to have the two associations work together to encourage their respective governments to develop safety and environmental regulations that are harmonized across North America. We plan to actively engage in constructive dialogue and exchange of technical information with Mexican governmental officials on issues affecting our business as we now do with the regulatory agencies in the United States and Canada."
Leasure also announced that Isuzu Motors America Inc, based in Cerritos CA, has become a TMA member. It joins Ford Motor Co, Freightliner LLC, General Motors Corp, International Truck and Engine Corp, Mack Trucks Inc, Paccar Inc, and Volvo Trucks North America Inc as members of the association. TMA represents the major North American manufacturers of medium- and heavy-duty trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 8,845 kilograms (19,500 pounds).
Trimac Receives CTA - Royal & Sun Award Trimac Transportation is one of the recipients of the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) - Royal & Sun Alliance National Fleet Safety Award for the second consecutive year. This award, which honors Canadian trucking companies for safety excellence, was presented in Toronto recently in conjunction with the Ontario Trucking Association's annual convention. KPMG Consulting of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, administered the award process.
Kenworth T300 Leads the Medium-Duty Pack Kenworth Truck Co's T300 received the top ranking among medium-duty conventionals for overall customer satisfaction, according to the J D Power and Associates 2000 Medium-Duty Truck Customer Satisfaction Study.
This study was based on interviews with 2,066 primary maintainers of medium-duty trucks (Class 5 - 7) in service for about 26 months.The study analyzed customer satisfaction in key areas such as vehicle performance, product quality, interior and exterior design, dealer parts and service support, and manufacturer image.
GATX to Sell Domestic Terminal Operations GATX Corp has signed an agreement to sell GATX Terminals Corp's domestic terminal and pipeline operations to Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP for approximately $1.15 billion. The purchase price includes about $1.0 billion in cash plus the assumption of external debt and certain liabilities. The transaction is expected to close in first-quarter 2001, subject to standard conditions. GATX expects net after-tax proceeds from the sale to be in the range of $700 million.
This transaction is a major step in GATX's previously announced plan to sell GATX Terminals Corp. The domestic operations constitute most of GATX Terminals' asset and franchise value. Sale of GATX Terminals' remaining businesses - including foreign operations and joint ventures - is expected to be completed in separate transactions during 2001.
Kinder Morgan Buys Delta Terminal Services Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP has purchased Delta Terminal Services Inc for approximately $114 million in cash. The acquisition includes two liquid bulk storage terminals in New Orleans LA and Cincinnati OH. These facilities serve producers of petroleum, chemicals, and other products.
The New Orleans terminal has a storage capacity of 2.5 million barrels. It is located at the 98.5-mile point on the Mississippi River close to the Harvey Canal and the Greater New Orleans Bridge. The terminal serves the New Orleans/Baton Rouge corridor and is situated on about 100 acres.
The Cincinnati terminal has a storage capacity of 500,000 barrels and is situated on about 60 acres.
ATA Recruits Ex-Military Personnel for Drivers The American Trucking Associations (ATA) is sponsoring a truck driver recruiting effort aimed at ex-military personnel. ATA believes the more than 200,000 people who leave America's armed forces every year to work in private industry are a potentially valuable labor pool - especially since trucking faces an estimated annual shortfall of 100,000 drivers.
ATA is working with the Department of Labor's Veterans Employment Training Service (VETS) to make presentations at military bases about truck driving as a post-service career.
ATA and VETS hope to get more trucking companies involved at job fairs for military veterans. So far, 20 of ATA's motor carrier members have signed on to support the project.
Bendix Delivers PLC-Capable ABS Units Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems has delivered its first antilock braking system (ABS) units with power line carrier (PLC) capability. Bendix' new line of ABS, the MC-30 and EC-30, satisfies the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) trailer warning lamp requirement for ABS while also allowing for advanced communication between the tractor and trailer and total vehicle diagnostics. The NHTSA mandate requiring all towing vehicles and trailers to incorporate PLC takes effect for new vehicles on March 1, 2001.
The industry standard requires the trailer ABS to contain a sender in its trailer electronic control unit (MC-30) and a receiver in the tractor unit (EC-30), allowing for signals to be transmitted via the ABS power wire. The EC-30 system controls the dash-mounted trailer ABS warning lamp without changing current ABS or tractor and trailer wiring requirements and still allowing for combination of old and new vehicles.
Bendix began delivering MC-30 ABS units equipped with PLC in August 2000 to help meet future fleet requirements, and it says it was the first ABS supplier to deliver PLC-capable units.
US Department of Justice Gives Clearance To AB Volvo for Purchase of Renault VI/Mack AB Volvo and the United States Department of Justice have entered into a consent decree that is awaiting approval by US district court in Washington DC. AB Volvo has received clearance from the Department of Justice for acquisition of Renault VI/Mack. The approval is subject to the condition that Volvo Trucks' North American low cab-over-engine (LCOE) business be divested. This segment amounts to less than 3% of the total heavy-truck market in North America.
The Volvo Group is establishing a new business area, Volvo Global Trucks, comprising the Volvo, Renault, and Mack truck brands. Tryggve Sthen, chief executive officer for Volvo Trucks, will be CEO of the new business area. Volvo Global Trucks represents 70% of the Volvo Group's worldwide sales. Volvo Global Trucks is expected to be operational in early 2001.
In April 2000, AB Volvo and Renault SA concluded an agreement in principle whereby AB Volvo will receive 100% of Renault's truck operations, Renault VI/Mack, in exchange for 15% of AB Volvo's shares. The agreement was completed in July and approved by the European Union in September.
As a result of the acquisition, Volvo Group is becoming the world's second-largest and Europe's biggest manufacturer of heavy trucks, with almost twice its former volume of business.
Volvo Trucks' and Renault VI/Mack's combined sales in 1999 amounted to about 151,000 heavy trucks and 22,500 light- and medium-heavy trucks. Their combined share of the market for heavy trucks in Western Europe amounts to about 28%, and to about 24% of the market in North America.
The divestment involves only those assets associated with the LCOE operations, and will affect the Xpeditor models within Volvo Trucks North America. The Volvo trademark and assembly plants are not included.
Goodyear Announces State Highway Heroes Brave acts performed by 22 truck drivers from across the United States have earned them the 2000 Goodyear state Highway Hero Award. Founded by Goodyear in 1983, the Highway Hero program recognizes professional truck drivers and the lifesaving rescues and roadside assistance they provide.
Four finalists will be selected from the state Highway Heroes. In March 2001 at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville KY, one of the finalists will be chosen to serve as the 2000 representative for the North American Highway Hero Award. All four finalists will receive a $10,000 savings bond and an all-expense-paid trip to the Daytona 500 in February.
The 22 State Highway Heroes are:
- James Randy Taylor, Barling AR.
- Michael Comeau, Huachuca AZ.
- Carl Tafua, San Jose CA.
- Kurt Smith, Clinton CT.
- Mark Cirami, Orlando FL; and Jim Nadeau, Kissimmee FL.
- David Zorn, Forest Park GA.
- Craig Smith, Oakley ID.
- Brent J Shupe, Charleston IL; and H Eugene Stuller, Franklin IL.
- Heath D Martin, Kewanna IN.
- James Njau, Lowell MA.
- Donald Strand, Jackson MS.
- Rocky L Martin, Columbus OH; and Samuel Hughes, Fairborn OH.
- Patrick Smith, Broken Bow NE.
- Edward Bowlin, Black Mountain NC.
- James O Ryan, Maple Shade NJ.
- Mike Ballew, Tulsa OK.
- James Dickey, Slippery Rock PA.
- Eugene Hawkins, Cleveland TN.
- Mike Johnson, Onalaska TX.