Business 2013 Look Ahead: Dollar Thrifty to integrate with Hertz
By D.R. STEWART World Staff Writer on Jan 6, 2013, at 2:24 AM Updated on 1/06/13 at 4:00 AM
Transportation
As automakers race to make cheaper electric cars with greater battery range, General Motors is working on one that can go 200 miles per charge at a cost of about $30,000, a top company executive said Monday.
BNSF Railway Co. announced Monday it is spending $125 million to expand and improve its system in Oklahoma. Projects will include a new bypass connection at the Cherokee rail yard in west Tulsa and extending a siding area on the carrier's tracks near Mannford.
In the transportation sector, the major story of local interest in 2013 will be the integration of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. with Hertz Global Holdings Inc., the company that acquired it in November for $2.3 billion, or $87.50 per share.
Teams comprised of managers of both companies are studying every facet of Hertz and Dollar Thrifty, from fleet management to operations, properties and facilities, to pricing, information technology and finance.
The idea is to merge the smaller Dollar Thrifty, which has 780 employees in Tulsa and 6,000 in North America, with the larger Hertz to make not just a bigger company but a better, more efficient organization, Hertz executives said.
Hertz has 1,700 employees at a regional operations center in Oklahoma City and 24,000 worldwide.
Hertz executives said they will keep a presence in Tulsa. The company has no plans to reduce operations at either Dollar Rent A Car or Thrifty Car Rental, Hertz officials said.
Other transportation developments in 2013 include the first two of nine state-of-the-art commercial truck weigh and inspection stations that state officials say will become fully operational after both opened in 2012.
Oklahoma's first modern truck weigh and inspection station opened in Kay County along Interstate 35 south of the Kansas border in April. By late spring, the station's computer network and advanced technology should be completely installed, said Kenna Mitchell, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.
The second station in Beckham County, along I-40 at the Texas border, opened in November, Mitchell said, and its advanced technology could be in place later in 2013.
Original Print Headline: Dollar Thrifty to integrate with Hertz
Transportation
As automakers race to make cheaper electric cars with greater battery range, General Motors is working on one that can go 200 miles per charge at a cost of about $30,000, a top company executive said Monday.
BNSF Railway Co. announced Monday it is spending $125 million to expand and improve its system in Oklahoma. Projects will include a new bypass connection at the Cherokee rail yard in west Tulsa and extending a siding area on the carrier's tracks near Mannford.
