Kelron Logistics, Toronto, Ontario, has named Rick Crooks to head up the company's newly formed corporate logistics group. Kelron is a cross-border transportation intermediary.

    Details: www.kelron.com

    Pro Source Group in Aurora, IL has been acquired by Total Logistic Control (TLC) of Zeeland, Michigan. Robert Koerner, formerly president of Pro Source, has been named president and chief operating officer of TLC and will relocate to Zeeland.

    Details: www.totallogistic.com

    Congratulations to the management team of Trinity Transport, Inc. in Bridgeville, DE. All four members earned the prestigious designation of Certified Transportation Broker (CTB) this year. The CTB was conferred by the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) on President Jeff Banning, Director of Accounting Ronda Banning, Agent Division Director Al Klineburger and Operations Manager Richie Smith.

    The Certified Transportation Broker Program was developed by the Transportation Brokers Conference of America to increase the professionalism and integrity of property brokerage through a rigorous certification program. It provides brokers with a wealth of information on business operations, transportation regulations, and brokerage practices, then tests their knowledge.

    Based on both academic scholarship and practical experience, the CTB Program provides brokers professional recognition, marketing advantages, and career advancement. The program is now handled by TIA, of which TBCA is a conference. This is the only certification program for property brokers in the transportation industry.

    TIA is the leading policy and education organization for North American third- party transportation providers. TIA members include property brokers; domestic freight forwarders; intermodal marketing companies; perishable commodity brokers; air and ocean freight forwarders; motor carriers; and logistics management companies.

    International Commodity Carriers, Inc. (ICCI) has begun publishing a quarterly newsletter, The Right Move. The brokerage, headquartered in Medford, Oregon, is now engaged in a significant growth program that includes the building of a 16,000-square-foot headquarters next to its current location.

    The newsletter is edited and published for ICCI by Petrick Outsourcing Unlimited, Inc., a management and marketing consultant for transportation companies.

    Details: www.transportmarketing.com

    Flynn Transportation Services, Inc. has opened a branch office in Las Vegas, NV. A fast growing, Florida based third-party transportation firm, Flynn specializes in the time-sensitive distribution market for audio and video products.

    "Our Nevada team of professionals will enhance services to our existing customers and will expand Flynn's participation in other markets," said Chip Flynn, President and CEO. "This branch office demonstrates our commitment to strategic growth to meet and exceed the requirements and expectations of customers in our primary market, the entertainment industry."

    Leading the Nevada team is Steve Fernlund of Las Vegas. Fernlund has more than 20 years of management experience in the third-party transportation industry. While running a successful third-party provider, he directed government affairs activities for the Transportation Brokers Conference of America (TBCA) and served on its board of directors for several years.

    "I welcome the challenges inherent in the markets served by Flynn Transportation," said Fernlund. "We look forward to working with Chip and his team in Florida to fulfill our commitment to excellent service."

    The new office is located at 8683 West Sahara Avenue, Suite 240, Las Vegas, NV 89117. Telephone (702) 967-2343, Fax (702) 967-2348.

    Details: www.flynntrans.com

    BTC Logistics / Burnet Traffic Consultants Ltd. was recently named one of three winners of the Outstanding Business Achievement Award of Merit by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. BTC was nominated by the London Chamber of Commerce after winning its own Business Achievement Award this past February.

    The Provincial awards program is judged by a distinguished panel of business and financial writers and editors from Ontario media. This year the panel presented five achievement awards and three awards of merit to outstanding firms selected from many nominations across the Province.

    BTC, a consulting firm as well as a third-party worldwide transportation, warehousing and distribution service provider, has been in business since 1977 and is based in Arva, Ontario.

    Cognos, the world's largest business intelligence company, has announced an agreement with Schneider Logistics, Green Bay, WI, to supply a business intelligence extranet. The agreement is valued at more than $1 million dollars.

    Schneider Logistics' customers will be able to access reports and analyze personalized account information at Internet speed using the zero-footprint Cognos extranet solution. The fee-based service will create a new revenue source for Schneider Logistics, and add significant value to its e-business relationships.

    Schneider Logistics, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Schneider National, Inc., provides comprehensive logistics solutions and world-class supply chain technology to business partners throughout North America and Europe.

   Schneider National previously deployed a Cognos solution across its organization and achieved return on investment within six months. The initial success with Cognos, and the potential to create a new revenue source by marketing information to customers, spurred Schneider Logistics to develop the business intelligence extranet.

    "The strategic partnership between Schneider and Cognos is a model for how two companies can create business value and revenue opportunities for both partners," said Bill Braddy, Schneider Logistics' Vice President of Engineering and Knowledge Services. "We consider the Cognos partnership and solutions to be a strategic and essential part of our business."

    Schneider Logistics' customers will access the Cognos extranet through an easy-to-use and secure Web browser. Analytical insights derived from these Cognos-based products will enable customers to quickly identify potential savings and cost avoidance opportunities. Schneider Logistics leaders intend to strengthen customer acquisition and improve customer retention as a result. The company and its customers will also benefit from faster knowledge sharing achieved by reducing reliance on paper reports and a significant reduction in related retrieval and inputting of data.

    External end-users from senior executives to administrators will be able to access aggregated analytical data and Cognos reports on transactions and freight as well as transportation management. They can break down the summaries and analyze more detailed information using Cognos' multidimensional Online Analytical Processing (OLAP). For example, a customer can access an aggregated report on a series of shipments and then drill down to a particular shipment for details on time, cost, distance, and other critical information.

    Schneider Logistics' extranet will include Cognos' OLAP, managed reporting and open Portal components. The software will operate in a Sun Microsystems UNIX environment and access data in an Oracle data warehouse. Schneider Logistics cited the breadth and depth of the Cognos solution, its robust OLAP capabilities, scalability in a UNIX environment, and zero-footprint HTML architecture, which is ideal for large-scale e-business deployments, as the key reasons it selected Cognos.

    "Information is rapidly becoming a marketable product for organizations, and Cognos' business intelligence extranets are gaining broad acceptance as the preferred solution to create new sources of revenue and business value," said Terry Hall, Cognos' chief operating officer. "In the business intelligence market, only Cognos had the foresight to build its extranet solutions using zero-footprint HTML. This assures that our software solutions scale to any size system to meet ongoing demands along with the security and reliability features that global e-business requires." Schneider Logistics serves more than two-thirds of the Fortune 500 companies and a growing number of business-to-business e-commerce companies through its transportation and logistics services.

    Details: www.schneider.com - www.cognos.com.

    Victoria A. Saunders has been named Vice President, Traffic Services, Next Generation Logistics, Inc. (NGL). Vickie has extensive industry experience in foodservice vendor negotiations and purchasing and traffic management with highly respected companies such as Armour Dial, CFS Continental, Hayes Brokers, and Thomas Proestler.

    Vickie will head up NGL's newest service offering, OptiFreightTM Traffic Improvement Service. The service comes with a comprehensive analysis of your current traffic operations benchmarked to industry standards, and a 3-year growth/profit improvement plan for your traffic operations. Results are guaranteed.

    NGL is a leading logistics consulting, contract outsourcing and software development company in the food and service sensitive industries.

    Details: http://www.nextgeneration.com.

    A concise solution to the confusion caused by claims about the new logistics and supply chain websites is now available. "Who's Who in Logistics Websites? Armstrong's Guide to Internet Transportation and Supply Chain Management Solutions" covers individual websites in-depth and grades them on an A-F scale. The Guide is published by Armstrong & Associates in Stoughton, WI, logistics management consulting firm specializing in outsourcing projects.

    Websites like GoCargo.Logistics.com, 3Plex.freightquote.com, Transplace.com and accuShip are presented. In this guide, over 130 companies are profiled and subdivided as "active managers," "facilitators," and "systems." To further explain the sites, they are classified as real or start-ups.

    "Logistics websites have proliferated at a mind-numbing rate over the last year," said Evan Armstrong, vice-president of Armstrong & Associates, Inc. "Just sorting out the names is a challenge. Some are good business models with experienced logisticians behind them. These "A" sites will stay in the race. Other sites, lacking substance, will have to face much tougher survival prospects. We're trying to give busy transportation, warehouse and other managers an easy way to sort them out."

    "Who's Who in Logistic Websites?" is over 300 pages in length. It has a complement of Armstrong's standard summary matrices to help readers quickly sort out the sites of greatest interest. The guide sells for $195 (hard copy only) or $495 (hard copy and CD).

    Details: www.3Plogistics.com.

    Lou Ciuro has been appointed Vice President, Business Development for Vimich Traffic Logistics. Announcement was made by Ray Clavette, President. Since joining the firm this summer, Ciuro has been immersed in the processes and procedures that create The Vimich Model of logistics management. He is now conveying his new found information to the Canadian business community, on behalf of Vimich.

    "The more I see, the more impressed I am," stated Ciuro, who was a bank executive for nearly two decades. "The surprises are all positive ones."

    Ray Clavette explained that he chose Ciuro for this key position with his firm because of his intimate knowledge of the Canadian business community. For nineteen years, Ciuro was with the Toronto Dominion Bank, the second largest financial institution in Canada. For the past five years, Ciuro has headed the commercial loan department of TD Bank's Windsor Commercial Banking Center, overseeing an office of 23 Account Managers, Credit Analysts and support staff.

    Ciuro's involvement in the business community includes intimate knowledge of the automobile industry.

    "I am well aware of the Just in Time philosophy and the associated day-to-day operational challenges within the automotive supply chain. I have seen and helped clients deal with the dynamic pressures with which any supplier to the auto industry is faced," he said.

    "Lou knows the owners of the companies we can best serve," stated Clavette. "He now knows how much of an edge we can give a small or medium size manufacturer or supplier by providing supply chain and logistics management. He can tell our story from the position of knowing both our service and the needs of the prospect."

    "I am so impressed with the integrity with which Vimich approaches the marketplace," Ciuro observed. "The people in the firm have an unbelievable work ethic. The product and customer service are the best I've seen. I am very excited about the future potential for domestic and international service."

    Ciuro is introducing Vimich into a different and more diverse network of prospective clients. Working with professionals, accountants and attorneys in the community, he brings a different outlook to business development for the firm.

    He will also broaden the geographic scope of Vimich business. Having lived and worked in most major business centers throughout Ontario, Ciuro has developed a presence in the business community and enjoys "good relationships" with the business marketplace at large.

    "I look forward to not only expanding Vimich's business here in Canada but to the entire North American marketplace" stated Ciuro.

    As he becomes familiar with the Vimich methods, success stories and approach, Ciuro is intent on spreading the word.

    "I have done comparisons," he admits. "The Vimich Model is so much more thorough, complete and detailed that I was amazed at the difference. Ray and his team have this business down pat. First hand, I saw verification that what Ray has put in place pays dividends."

    "In the presentations we have made to date, there has been an extremely positive response. The research and knowledge are there. Clients can see how they will be protected, represented, how their costs will be improved and how internal efficiencies will be generated. And all the while, their service, control and the reports they are seeing on which to make decisions are constantly becoming more finite and valuable.

    "It is so exciting to be in such a win/win situation. We definitely have growth plans, to take the word into the business community."

    Through his involvement in the business community, Ciuro is active in a number of service organizations and with community fund raising. For the last three years, he has served on the board of directors of the Canadian/Italian Professional Business Association in Windsor.

    Lou and his wife Carolyne are originally from Hamilton, Ontario. They now live in Windsor with their daughters, ages 11 and 9 and their son, who is 8.

    "We have set down roots in Windsor," stated Ciuro. "We are delighted that this new venture allows us to remain here. We look forward to continuing to raise our family here."

    An avid golfer, Lou is waiting for business and pleasure to intersect out on the nines.

    Details: www.vimich.com