Newsline

Feb. 1, 1998
Good news Contract Freighters Inc. (CFI), a truckload carrier based in Joplin, Mo., gathered its employees in December to purchase $13,900 worth of holiday gifts for 250 needy children and 100 senior citizens. The Salvation Army and Empire District Electric Co. supplied names of the needy. The money for this event was raised via CFI's Truckloads of Treasures raffle held earlier in the year. The gifts

Good news Contract Freighters Inc. (CFI), a truckload carrier based in Joplin, Mo., gathered its employees in December to purchase $13,900 worth of holiday gifts for 250 needy children and 100 senior citizens. The Salvation Army and Empire District Electric Co. supplied names of the needy. The money for this event was raised via CFI's Truckloads of Treasures raffle held earlier in the year. The gifts were then delivered to their respective organizations to await distribution to recipients.

Truck drivers who want to help missing kids have an extra reason to do so this month and next. Mid-America Trucking Show presenters will provide an extra incentive for drivers to order their 'Home Run' door stickers. From now until March 1, anyone making a $10 donation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children will receive a colorful truck-door sticker, as well as two free tickets to the Mid-America Trucking Show. (The show takes place March 19-21 in Louisville.) To make your donation, send a check, payable to NCMEC, to 'Home Run', P.O. Box 111949, Nashville, Tenn., 37222-1949. Include your name and mailing address.

Continental General Tire's Commercial Division has announced an annual award program to recognize truck drivers for their safety and service records. The first winner of the award is Steve Rollins, a driver for Celebrity Freight Systems, Paducah, Ky.

Comdata and Feed the Children have announced the 1998 truck show and leadership conference, which will feature a convoy of more than 500 trucks hauling loads of food to Nashville for distribution to needy children.

Thirsty? Reflecting the strength of the economy and the need for trucks to haul what the economy is churning out, demand for distillates -- heating oil and diesel fuel -- grew by 5% last year, according to the American Petroleum Institute. "Over the last several years, on-highway transportation demand has been the largest and fastest-growing element of distillate fuel demand," the API said.

For better or worse, For richer or poorer Chemical Leaman Corp. has formed TransPlastics to provide bulk transportation of dry products, including plastics, food, and building materials. The company was formerly Chemical Leaman's Dry Bulk Services division....Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, a New York-based investment firm, has agreed to buy North American Van Lines, the nation's second-largest household goods mover, from Norfolk Southern Corp. for approximately $200 million. "While NAVL is an excellent business, Norfolk Southern is directing the company's resources towards strengthening and expanding our rail freight network," said Norfolk Southern Chairman David R. Goode.... Old Dominion Freight Line, High Point, N.C., is looking to buy selected assets of regional less-than-truckload carrier Fredrickson Motor Express of Charlotte, N.C.

Ampace Corp., the parent of Merchants Dutch Express of Monroe, La., and a shorthaul trucking network with operations in Columbus, Ohio; Orlando, Fla.; Atlanta; Calhoun, Ga.; Asheboro, N.C.; and Knoxville, Tenn., has agreed to purchase Roy Widener Motor Lines of Morristown, Tenn.

Transit Group has announced that it has agreed to acquire Rainbow Trucking, a privately held longhaul trucking company, and two affiliate companies. Transit Group, headquartered in Atlanta, is a holding company in the business of acquiring and consolidating short- and longhaul trucking companies. It is comprised of a fleet of more than 400 trucks and 1,000 trailers, and serves customers nationwide.

Moving right along Bekins Distribution Services, a St. Louis-based subsidiary of Bekins Moving & Storage Co., has been acquired by Hospitality Worldwide Services. Bekins provides transportation, warehousing, and installation services for the hospitality industry out of Orlando and Las Vegas.

Landstar System is planning to relocate its expedited freight subsidiary, Landstar Express America, from Charlotte, N.C., to Jacksonville, Fla. The move, planned for mid-March, is part of the company's ongoing restructuring effort. Landstar relocated its corporate headquarters to Jacksonville last June. Landstar Express America provides air-, truck-, and ocean-expedited services on time-critical freight shipments throughout North America and around the world.

North, south of the border Viking Freight has unveiled Toronto Express, a new and innovative express service to Eastern Canada. A direct door-to-door service between the U.S. and Canada, it will reduce transit times by up to four days.

Consolidated Freightways has become the first LTL carrier to offer full-time, around-the-clock information exchange with Canadian customs at every level of the customs process, according to the company. The information exchange provides shippers with real-time status of every procedure throughout the process. In addition, the exchange link allows freight to be cleared 24 hours a day.

Celadon Group, a truckload company specializing in the transport of goods to and from Mexico, recently announced that it has initiated flatbed service between points in the United States and major Mexican markets. The company has about 1,800 operating linehaul tractors, including 450 owner-operated units and 5,500 trailers.

What's in a name? Not much, according to the Management Systems Council of ATA, which this fall voted to change its name to Information Technology Council. The group thought that the new name better reflected the broad range of technologies not being addressed.

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