The American Trucking Associations (ATA) made a surprising announcement at its Management Conference in late October. The group said that Interim President William J. Canary, who was expected to leave soon for family reasons, would serve as president and CEO until 2003, when Kansas Republican Gov. Bill Graves takes over that post. Graves, whose family ran Graves Truck Line until they sold it in 1979, will move to Washington after his second term as governor ends. ATA also has a new chairman: David McCorkle. McCorkle, chairman of family-owned McCorkle Truck Line of Oklahoma City, told conference attendees that he hoped to bring a new sense of unity to the trucking industry.

DaimlerChrysler has a plan to turn around its ailing Freightliner heavy truck division, which also includes the Sterling and Western Star brands. The parent company expects to return the money-losing truck maker to profitability in 2003 by achieving cost reductions in materials, production, and overhead and by changing its business strategy. Toward that end, Freightliner has announced that it will reduce the number of parts and chassis designs it offers, close three manufacturing and assembly plants, lay off 2,700 employees, cut wages and benefits for remaining employees, and focus on profitable business rather than on market share. By the middle of next year, Freightliner will employ 13,300 people, a 47-percent drop from its peak employment of 25,000 in 1999.

Another motor carrier has moved deeper into the expedited airfreight arena. Averitt Express, which began as a less-than-truckload carrier but now offers a range of transportation and logistics services, has launched an aircargo charter service in partnership with Active Aero Group. Active Aero's "CharterNet" Internet-based bid-and-quote system provides quotes for a wide variety of aircraft in minutes. The new agreement highlights the growing demand for time-specific services as a means of controlling inventory-carrying costs. Those that use Web-enabled software to identify the most cost-effective options are particularly attractive these days. For more on this trend, see "Speed curbs inventory" on Page 45 ofLogistics' November issue or visit our Web site, www.logisticsmgmt.com.

Who couldn't use a little extra help these days? That must have been in the back of consultant Ken Ackerman's mind when he compiled 300 of his ideas on how to make a warehouse run better. InWarehousing Tips, Ackerman offers thoughts on everything from hiring and training, warehouse layout, theft prevention and workplace violence to operations improvement, strategies and career management. He even takes on the art of unscrambling eggs in the section on third-party logistics providers. The book is available for $39.75. For more information or to order a copy, visit www.WarehousingForum.com.

Kenworth Truck Co. has launched a fuel-economy awareness program to help fleets and owner-operators improve their vehicles' fuel efficiency. To kick off the program, Kenworth has published a 14-page document, titled "White Paper on Fuel Economy," and has launched a "Dynamics of Fuel Efficiency" Web site link at www.kenworth.com. The White Paper explores six major subject areas: aerodynamics, component spec'ing, advanced technology, route management, driver behavior, and vehicle maintenance. According to Kenworth, improving fuel economy by just one-half mile per gallon could save a single heavy-duty truck more than $1,100 dollars per year in fuel costs. The White Paper can be downloaded from Kenworth's Web site or obtained from Brandhammer, 121 Lake St. South, Suite 201, Kirkland, WA 98033.

Ocean shipping is a real bargain, when you look at how much it costs to ship an individual item. Bow Wave, a lively biweekly e-mail newsletter about the esoteric side of the maritime world, recently asked subscribers for examples of shipping on the cheap. Examples submitted included fertilizer shipped via bulk vessel from the Baltic to Venezuela for just 2 cents a kilo, and a containerload of scotch whiskey traveling from the United Kingdom to Japan for the princely sum of 4 cents a bottle. Running shoes typically cost just 18 cents a pair for transportation from Asia to Northern Europe. It's almost enough to make a shipper stop and reconsider before asking a carrier for a lower rate ... Free subscriptions toBow Wave, written by maritime insurance guru Sam Ignarski, are available by e-mailing sam@wavyline.com.

Need information about trucking companies throughout North America? A newly integrated database from Transportation Technical Services (TTS) may fill the bill. The new database combines six separate lists into a single source that includes detailed information on 67,000 motor carriers in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Subscribers can view, sort, select, and print thumbnail or detailed records on 29,000 for-hire and 31,000 private fleets as well as 6,200 owner-operators. For more information, call TTS at (888) 665-9887 or go to www.fleetseek.com and click on "Learn More."

CSX Lines has taken the unusual step of spinning off its customer-service and related IT functions into a separate company. Horizon Services Group (HSG), which is based in Dallas, is staffed by about 150 CSX Lines employees. HSG's mission is to make so-called "back office" functions paperless. Its responsibilities include customer service, booking, documentation, billing, electronic business transactions, and supporting information services. CSX Lines has been steadily moving in the direction of a paperless environment; about 50 percent of the carrier's bookings are now made online through its "Netcaptain" software. HSG will offer consulting and customized systems development to other ocean carriers that want to develop similar electronic capabilities.

The move by many third-party logistics companies to marry domestic and international expertise continues to gather steam. The latest such example is an alliance announced by third party Schneider Logistics of Green Bay, Wis., and Hellmann Worldwide Logistics USA, the Miami-based subsidiary of the German international freight forwarder and customs broker. Under the agreement's terms, Schneider Logistics will provide domestic transportation, technical, engineering and supply chain services, while Hellmann will provide international freight forwarding, customs brokerage, warehousing and distribution services to their joint customers.

The Delta Nu Alpha Foundation has established a new scholarship for students of logistics and transportation. The "Cathy Davis–Motivation to Education Scholarship" will be awarded to an undergraduate who demonstrates academic success, potential, motivation, and career focus. Applicants must also be recommended by their professors and internship employers. The new scholarship honors Cathy Davis of transportation broker MCD Transportation of Nashville, Tenn., who has long been active in the transportation fraternity's efforts to promote scholarships, research and publications in the transportation and logistics field. For more information, visit the organization's Web site, www.deltanualpha.org/educatio.htm.