Tag: USA

Supreme awarded U.S. State Department contract for armoured vehicles

Posted by | Oct 8, 2007 | |

Supreme Industries, Inc., a manufacturer of specialized commercial vehicles, including truck bodies, shuttle buses, armored vehicles, and luxury motorcoaches, announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Supreme Corporation of Texas (“Supreme Texas”), has been awarded a contract by the U.S. State Department to manufacture armored vehicles. The initial order is for USD 500,000, with a total contract potential of up to USD 100 million over a five-year period conditioned on receipt by Supreme Texas of future purchase orders (which are not guaranteed).

If fully implemented, the contract could result in sales of up to 800 armoured secure vehicles. The vehicles’ OEM appearance and heavy armour allow for discreet and secure transportation to and from U.S. Embassies and other government offices around the world. Deliveries, scheduled to commence in March 2008, could extend through 2013.

The vehicles will be manufactured at Supreme Texas’ Cleburne, Texas, facility, which specializes in building armored vehicles, including the VANGUARD Executive/Diplomat Armoured Suburban and other tactical and Homeland Security products.

Supreme is one of a select few, federally approved, armoured vehicle suppliers that can sell directly to the U.S. government. Supreme Texas was awarded this contract after a rigorous bid process and after receiving all required Department of State security clearances.

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Pitney Bowes Inventor Breaks 100th U.S. Patent Milestone

Posted by | Oct 8, 2007 | |

Pitney Bowes announced that inventor Robert Cordery was recently granted his 100th and 101st U.S. patents in September. Cordery becomes only the second technologist in Pitney Bowes history to reach this prolific level. The milestone hundredth patent is a mail processing system that encodes mailpieces with unique barcoding to verify the processing of each mailpiece by a carrier or third party.

Cordery has worked for Pitney Bowes in research and development since 1984. In 1989 he joined the Technical Ladder, a career path parallel to management, where he is a Principal Fellow at Pitney Bowes. He holds patents in mailstream communications, value added services, mail rating, postage payment, metering, meter infrastructure, barcode reading, printing, key management, electronic commerce, electronic article surveillance, safe mail, and voting.

Ronald Sansone is the most prolific inventor in Pitney Bowes history with 121 U.S. patents. A former Pitney Bowes fellow and vice president of Strategic Innovation, his innovative focus was on enhancing Pitney Bowes’s core business by developing and integrating new technologies.

Pitney Bowes intellectual property portfolio includes more than 3,500 patents worldwide in areas such as shipping, laser printing, encryption and mailing.

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USPS selects AT&T for wireless data devices and services76

Posted by | Oct 8, 2007 | |

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has selected US communications holding company AT&T Inc. to support the agency’s move to wirelessly enable enterprise applications for more efficient operations.

AT&T said it will provide new wireless data devices and services to 5,400 employees across the US initially, deploying a solution which includes BlackBerry 8800 series handsets from Research In Motion (RIM) for postal managers and key staff. They will use the handsets for access to e-mail and other postal applications and will have wireless access via AT&T’s EDGE network, which provides availability in over 13,000 cities and towns and along 40,000 miles of highways.

The BlackBerry 8800 Series device incorporates a QWERTY keyboard, trackball navigation system, GPS, voice and data functionality and expandable memory slot. It is the first dual-mode BlackBerry handset, combining EDGE/GPRS/GSM cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity for flexible data access and is proposed for phase two deployment later in 2007.

According to USPS, the wireless solution enables it to access location-based tracking, asset and supply acquisition, IT support and video training applications on the mobile device, helping to streamline operations across the US.

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UPS expands "Green Fleet" with 306 alternative fuel vehicles

Posted by | Oct 8, 2007 | |

UPS today announced it was adding 306 alternative fuel vehicles to its “green fleet” by placing an order for 167 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) delivery trucks while taking delivery of 139 new propane delivery trucks in North America. Additionally, the company has launched an initiative to use biodiesel fuel in its ground support vehicles at the UPS Worldport® air hub in Louisville.

The CNG trucks will be deployed early next year in Dallas, Atlanta and four California cities – Los Angeles, Ontario, San Ramon and Fresno. They will join more than 800 such vehicles already in use in the United States. The propane vehicles are joining nearly 600 propane trucks already operating in Canada and Mexico.

UPS’s global alternative-fuel fleet now stands at 1,629 vehicles – the largest such private fleet in the transportation industry – and includes CNG, liquefied natural gas, propane and electric and hybrid electric vehicles. The company also is working with the Environmental Protection Agency on a hydraulic hybrid delivery vehicle.

The propane and CNG trucks currently in the UPS fleet were converted from gasoline and diesel vehicles in the 1980s to run on alternative fuels. The new trucks are originally manufactured for alternative fuel use.

The chassis for the CNG trucks are being purchased in two sizes from Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation. The trucks will feature engines from Cummins Westport that are expected to yield a 20 percent emissions reduction and 10 percent improvement in fuel economy over the cleanest diesel engines available in the market today. The truck bodies will be identical externally to the signature-brown trucks that now comprise the UPS fleet and will be marked as CNG vehicles.

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UPS Indianapolis freight workers ratify contract

Posted by | Oct 7, 2007 | |

United Parcel Service Inc. freight workers in Indianapolis ratified a new five-year contract reached by the Teamsters union that raises workers’ wages and boosts the company’s contributions to pensions and benefits.

The contract, which covers 125 freight employees, is considered to be the first step toward the unionization of UPS’s freight work force of about 15,000. The contract was ratified by a 107-to-1 vote.

UPS Freight was formerly known as Overnite Transportation.

UPS and the Teamsters union reached a tentative agreement on Sept. 30.

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