Briefs
Staff -- Purchasing, 5/1/2003 2:00:00 AM
-
The seemingly endless sell-off of the assets of bankrupt less-than-truckload giant Consolidated Freightways (CF) continues. In March, CF agreed to sell its Canadian arm, Canadian Freightways, to a group of current Canadian Freightways senior management and a financial partner working under the name CF Canada Acquisition Ltd. But only weeks after that announcement, CF released a statement saying it had terminated the $90 million deal and that "CF is currently evaluating other potential investment opportunities for its Canadian operations, in conjunction with the Canadian Freightways management team." No further explanation was provided in the statement. Canadian Freightways is financially and operationally independent from CF and is not part of the September 2002 CF bankruptcy proceedings. CF also announced the sale of multiple distribution facilities across the U.S. in early April, which it called the largest real estate sale in transportation history, totaling 220 total properties with an appraised value over $400 million.
-
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters' freight members have overwhelmingly ratified a new five-year National Master Freight Agreement that provides significant wage increases, maintains strong healthcare without premium co-pays, protects strong pensions and other improvements. Some industry analysts say the increased costs to carriers will translate into higher rates for shippers.
-
USFreightways Corp. is seeing some changes. The company recently announced that chief executive Sam Skinner is retiring and that a search has begun to find a replacement. Skinner, a former U.S. Secretary of Transportation, had led USF for three years. USFreightways Corp. also announced recently that it would seek approval from its shareholders to change its name to USF Corp.
-
Logistics services provider TransCore recently purchased the transportation management system software and related intellectual property assets of CarrierPoint Inc, which provides Web-based applications for management of freight movements within a shipper's back office. The CarrierPoint service and brand will continue, and TransCore has hired certain CarrierPoint employees and will be transitioning operations to TransCore.
-
Canadian and U. S. customs agencies and Canada's two major railways signed a declaration of principles to further enhance security at the Canada-U.S. border and to ensure secure rail access to the U.S. The joint government-industry initiative is the culmination of several months of discussion about ways to enhance the security of U.S.-bound rail shipments while ensuring trade continues to flow between the two countries. These discussions were part of the larger process of implementing the Smart Border Declaration adopted by Canada and the U. S. in December 2001. The declaration outlines the principles for targeting, screening and examining rail shipments transported by the two Canadian carriers into the U.S. from Canada. It includes guidelines for collecting advanced electronic manifest information and installing imaging and radiation detection equipment at seven border crossings.
Now Playing: 