Nummi Closure: Robots heading back to Georgia

Pension watchdog says Nummi plan underfunded

The federal agency that protects pensions says New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. is liable for $292 million in benefit payments but has just $161 million in assets, and it wants Toyota Corp. to help make up the difference.

Nummi was founded in 1984 as a partnership between Toyota Corp. and General Motors, but last summer GM quit the partnership and turned its interest in the Fremont plant over to Motors Liquidation Co., the bankrupt remnant of the old GM.

*I was talking to a customer in Kentucky the other day, and he said they were already loading up the robots from the Toyota plant and shipping them back to Georgia.

Jack Cooper Transport and Reality TV

Jack Cooper Transport explores reality TV possibilities - KansasCity.com
Jack Cooper Transport Co. teetered on the edge of bankruptcy last year and continues to fight for a turnaround of its fortunes.

Is that a story made for reality TV?

Mike Riggs hopes so. Riggs, chairman and majority owner of Cooper Transport, said the company has become a client of a Beverly Hills talent agency that will shop the idea of a reality TV show revolving around the car-haul company.

“I had never heard of such a thing, but there apparently is a niche of reality TV shows dealing with the workplace,” Riggs said.

Car hauling equipment in the UK

Came across an interesting website of a UK car hauling trailer manufacturer. Check out the car tie-downs they use over there. Looks a lot like the rollback straps we use over here in the US.

Need help with cold case

1992 PETERBILT WITH 1992 BOYDSTUN TRAILER WAS STOLEN FROM PACIFIC COAST TRUCK & TRAILER LLC. AT 8235 NE MLK BLVD ON 10/31/08 BETWEEN 11:55 PM & 12:10 AM, iF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT PORTLAND POLICE DETECTIVE JEFF BENDER 503-823-4104, ALSO THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE 503-823-4047 CASE # 08-108942. RECOVERED FOUND IN TOLEDO WASHINGTON !
Thank You
Gary Clark
gary@pcttr.com
503-735-3707

Clunkers crush auto auction business in Danville

By Karen Blackledge
The Daily Item

DANVILLE — Wednesday marked the end of the oldest auto auction business in Pennsylvania, as the Danville Auto Auction closed, a casualty of a brutal used-car market decimated by the federal government’s Cash for Clunkers program.
Auction owner Robert “Bob” Welcomer said the auction’s business name has been acquired by a competitor, Central Pennsylvania Auto Auction in Lock Haven, but the Danville business will be shuttered under the terms of the transaction. Four full-time workers and as many as 35 part-time workers will lose their jobs.

Welcomer said there simply was not enough business for the two competing auctions to survive.

At the peak of its business, the Danville auction sold 300 vehicles during the once-a-week sale. On Wednesday, only about half that many vehicles went on the block.

The auctions have been hurt by a double-whammy. The economy has driven many used-car lots out of business, which eliminated many of their customers, and Cash for Clunkers took many of the vehicles that might have been sold in auctions off the market.

This is another example of how government intervention can distort the economy... picking winners and losers. Presumably to offset the lost jobs at this auction, there might be jobs retained at machine shops and other service providers to the new car industry... jobs that would have been lost if there hadn't been a massive government intervention. This is kind of emblematic of the law of unintended consequences.

Full Story: The Daily Item, Sunbury, PA - Clunkers crush auto auction business in Danville

Allied closing Janesville

Vehicle hauler to shut down Janesville terminal - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

Allied Systems Holdings Ltd., a provider of vehicle-hauling services, has informed the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development that 100 jobs will be lost when it closes its terminal in Janesville at the end of February 2010.

In a mass layoff notice filed this week with the agency, Allied Systems Holdings, based in Atlanta, said its terminal operations at 544 Kellogg Ave. in Janesville will shut down on or around Feb. 26.

Stolen Car Hauler!

Got this in an email this morning:

Sunday, December 12, our unit was Stolen from Manheim Statesville. I would appreciate it if you could post the following information on your site. I am also attaching pictures. If you cannot post this, I would appreciate your prayers and letting others know by word of mouth. Thank you!

June

2005 Peterbilt 379 EXHD Red vin#5N848819 C-15 Cat Engine, 10 Speed Trans. Burgundy and Grey Interior

2005 Cottrell High Rail Red Vin #5G005629

Tow dolly straps for all your friends...

This Christmas, why not buy your friends some tow dolly straps? Sure, it might sound like a lame gift, but a new set of tow dolly straps might keep their vehicle in tow from coming loose and passing them on the highway... which is what happened to the last customer I talked to on the telephone!
So... if you have friends who participate in the RV lifestyle... or who just tow stuff around for the hell of it, think about ordering them some replacement tow dolly straps before they become a headline! For a massive list of tow dolly straps.... from demco to uhaul to mastertow, etc.... go HERE.

Post loads automatically to central dispatch, carloadusa and more

I probably should have written about long ago, since I've been friends with these guys for about five years! CarloadUSA has worked out several really neat ways to post loads to their loadboard as well as others like central dispatch, 123loadboard, and more. If you have your broker authority, or have friends that do, pass this link on to them! It's a big time-saver.

And of course, if you're a driver looking for loads, you should try them out for a month or two, and see if they have loads in the lanes you run. Can't hurt, right?

How to find loads that pay.

Bogus hauler steals luxury cars from dealerships

Donna Harris
Automotive News
December 2, 2009 - 1:18 pm ET

The FBI confirms it is investigating a bogus car hauler who has stolen at least a dozen luxury vehicles from auto dealerships in several states.

FBI spokesman Ross Rice, in the agency's Chicago region, refused to discuss details of the pending case.

The National Auto Auction Association issued an alert to dealers and auctions the week before Thanksgiving warning that a thief or group of thieves stole the identity of a legitimate hauler, Atlas Towing and Recovery of Illinois. .

"If anyone does attempt to pick up (vehicle) releases using this company name, notify local law enforcement immediately," the alert says.

Alan Walker, director of security for Manheim Auto Auctions, said he believes the recent thefts are related to a similar transporter scam that occurred at an auction during the summer. Thieves posed as a hauler authorized to deliver vehicles to dealers who bought them at an online auction, he says. The thieves accessed data on the vehicles and the dealerships using the Internet.

GST

Heard GST is moving to California to pick up the Toyota business from Allied. Supposed to happen early next year. All company trucks and no owner ops. Kind of reverses some of the trends in the last few years, but who knows? Still hasn't happened.

What Boydstun is up to these days.

A new model - Oregon Business
PORTLAND When Rob Boydstun’s autocarrier manufacturing company near the Port of Portland was going the way of the rest of the auto industry, he decided to ditch it and re-create his business.

He chose an industry you wouldn’t expect in this recession — the housing industry.

Just in case you were wondering what Rob is up to these days.

Manheim Orlando Truck Theft Problem

Just spoke to a customer who said their Peterbilt was stolen at 8:00 in the morning last week at the Orlando Manheim auction. She said the police said that theirs was the 18th stolen truck this year. I don't know what you can do to guard against something like this... maybe put a denver boot on your truck or something.

Check your wheel bearings!

Terre Haute News, Terre Haute, Indiana- TribStar.com - Two vehicles destroyed when semitrailer burns