It's no surprise that the International Brotherhood of Teamsters opposes a proposal by the American Trucking Associations (ATA) that would give the trucking group access to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's files in order to perform criminal background checks on driver applicants. The ATA wants access to the information, which is already available to airlines and banks, as part of its effort to improve security. But Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa has denounced the proposal as a "fox guarding the chicken coop approach" and has suggested that allowing ATA members unrestricted access to an employee's personal history could create opportunities for abuse. Instead, the union would like to see a neutral federal agency handle that information.

If you want a "view from the top," you can't get much higher than this. The keynote speaker at the 2002 Northeast Trade and Transportation Conference sponsored by the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade (CONECT) will be White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr., who will speak on the Bush administration's international trade policies. Attendees will also get updates on policies and programs from U.S. Customs officials from Washington, local customs port directors, a panel of customs attorneys, and CONECT's Washington counsel, Peter Friedmann. Other sessions will address global economic trends, national cargo security, and recent developments in air and intermodal transportation. The conference will be held April 11–12 in Newport, R.I. For more information, call CONECT at (508) 481-0424, e-mail conectorg@aol.com or visit www.conect.org.

Two of the best-known names in the trucking business are going away, but the businesses themselves will continue operating as usual. American Freightways and Viking Freight are being rebranded as FedEx Freight by their parent company, FedEx Corp. In announcing the name change, FedEx Corp. Chairman, President and CEO Frederick W. Smith said the move would bolster the carriers'sales and marketing efforts in the LTL market. The name change takes effect in June, but the company expects it could take up to three years to rebrand the carriers'40,000 pieces of equipment. FedEx purchased American Freightways, which serves most of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, last year. Viking's principal market extends across 12 western states. The two companies, which boast combined revenues of $1.9 billion, will continue to maintain separate operations.

Could inventor Dean Kamen's Segway, the environmentally friendly, computerized human transporter, be the next big thing in warehousing? Several manufacturers have signed on to evaluate the Segway in their warehouses. At $8,000, the industrial model is more expensive than a bicycle but cheaper than the electric golf carts that are frequently used for getting around large warehouses. At speeds of 5 to 17 miles per hour and a range of 17 miles per battery charge, Segway transporters can accommodate passengers weighing up to 250 pounds and a cargo weight of 75 pounds. Michelin, which designed the wheels, is outfitting some test units with pull-behind trailers and other carrying devices for small loads. "I have driven it and think it's way cool," says Lynn Mann, public relations manager for Michelin. "Once you get on it, you can very easily imagine ways you can apply it."

With investment banking on the skids, some enterprising MBA students are looking toward supply chain management as the next area of educational opportunity. Enrollment is up at premier programs such as Michigan State, where 70 percent of the MBA students have made supply chain management one of their two focus areas, and Arizona State, where a third of the MBA class of 2003 is majoring in supply chain management. One reason for supply chain management's upsurge in popularity is money: Schools that offer MBA programs with a supply chain focus report that starting salaries for their students are up anywhere from 25 to 50 percent since 1995. But before you head back to campus, beware. "The trend may have peaked," cautions Eric Johnson, professor of management at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business. "MBA students as a rule are really tuned into the job market, and some of the boom in supply chain initiatives has waned."

"UPS Brownie Points," a bulletin issued by United Parcel Service to call attention to its new "Brown" ad campaign, contains some little-known facts about the carrier's relationship with that ubiquitous color. For example, the first UPS delivery vehicles were painted different colors so customers would know the company owned more than one package car. By 1929, the entire fleet was brown, a color chosen by founder Jim Casey because at that time it was considered to reflect elegance and professionalism—and because it didn't show dirt. Today, it takes 145,424 gallons of brown paint to keep the company's fleet of trucks, vans and aircraft looking good. The company also requires 1,673,000 yards of brown cloth and 175,000 miles of brown thread to outfit its 78,000 drivers.

Contrary to earlier reports, the International Intermodal Expo is not shutting down for good. Instead, the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA), which bought the show and conference from the Georgia Freight Bureau late last year, has announced that it will revive the event in November. The Intermodal Expo will now be held in conjunction with the National Industrial Transportation League's annual meeting and TransComp exhibition, slated for Nov. 17–20 in Anaheim, Calif. The Georgia Freight Bureau, which had owned and operated the show for 18 years, ceased operations last October and announced that it was canceling the 2002 Expo.

The newly created Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has begun a six-week study of security procedures at major airports around the United States. According to the National Industrial Transportation League (NITL), the study will track passenger and cargo movements through the test airports'security systems. At the completion of the study, TSA will recommend changes to increase security and service levels at most major airports. Test airports are located in Anchorage, Alaska; Atlanta; Baltimore; Boston; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Dallas/Fort Worth; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Louisville, Ky.; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Mobile, Ala.; New York City (John F. Kennedy International Airport); Orlando, Fla.; San Francisco; and Spokane, Wash.

Now that cargo security is a greater concern than ever, security supplies and equipment are drawing renewed interest from shippers. One product that has become more popular since authorities uncovered evidence that terrorists may have acquired commercial drivers licenses with hazardous materials endorsements is the anti-hijack system manufactured by BABACO Alarm Systems Inc. The system allows dispatchers to remotely cut a stolen vehicle's ignition, shut down the engine, and activate its horn, lights and a siren while blocking any attempt to restart the engine. Another example is Savi Technology's SmartSeal, which secures and monitors air, rail, truck and ocean containers and trailers. SmartSeal offers real-time alerts based on data collected through radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, which can detect and report evidence of tampering. An encrypted communications protocol prevents replication of or interference with the tag's signals.