In the latest in a series of cost-cutting measures, Volvo’s construction equipment division announced that it is moving the product of its current line of backhoe loaders and motor graders to one of its Chinese subsidiaries. The move means more than 1,000 Volvo employees in the US, Poland and Brazil will lose their jobs through … Read more
A Goodwill store in the state of Washington was fined $9,000 last week by the state’s labor department in connection with a fatal forklift accident that occurred last August. Investigators said the stores management should have provided more training for a forklift operator who accidentally ran over and killed a 69-year-old pedestrian in the store’s … Read more
A 61-year-old Welsh man who was found with a forklift that had been reported stolen from his employer claimed that the whole thing was just a big mix-up. But a British court found Philip Kirby guilty of theft and ordered him to pay $1,244 to his employer and $777 in court costs. He also was … Read more
Today is New Year’s Eve, a day when we reflect on the happenings of the past year and look forward to what’s coming in 2015. It’s been an exciting year in materials handling news. Labor negotiations between dock workers and ownership at West Coast ports continued to cause anxiety among carriers and retailers. The US … Read more
Dump trucks that haul materials through quarries, stone yards and other rough environments are notoriously vulnerable to damaged sidewalls. And when a truck’s tire is shredded or blown, it can slow down or even stop the entire production. Now there’s a new product that fits over the side of truck tires, providing a tough exterior … Read more
Motorists passing by the equipment yard at Cosham Plant construction machinery in Hampshire, UK, may notice one excavator standing out from the others. The company painted one of its Hitachi ZX1301LC-5 excavators hot pink in order to support and raise money for Breast Cancer Care, a local breast cancer support charity. Every time the vehicle is … Read more
Here’s a special sneak preview of some of the stories you will find this week on the Bahrns blog: Does it seem as though freight trains are moving through railroad crossings faster in recent months. That’s because they have and we’ll tell you why. Volvo is moving its backhoe and motor grader production to China. … Read more
Does it seem as if freight trains are moving faster along railroad crossings in recent weeks? That’s because they are. According to Railroad Performance Measures — a website where intermodal carriers voluntarily submit weekly reports on the average velocity of their freight trains and other data — several of North America’s biggest railroads posted sharp increases in … Read more
A new proposal from the Washington think tank the Eno Foundation calls on Congress to get rid of the current system for funding federal highways and transportation infrastructure and instead pay for it out of the federal income tax. The Highway Trust Fund (HTF) currently uses the federal fuel tax to pay for maintenance and … Read more
The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration has changed the requirement for reporting employee injuries. Beginning January 1, 2015, employers will now be required to report all work-related fatalities to OSHA within eight hours after they occur, and all in-patient hospitalizations, amputations, and losses of an eye with 24 hours. Previously, employers were required to … Read more
