Category Archives: Careers

Smart police have fast cars – May be in Europe but not in the USofA! European Police get highway patrol cars manufactured by Ferrari, Porsche & Lamborgini cars

April 8, 2009 at 7:06 pm

(Source: Telegraph, UK)

From a Ferrari to a Smart Car, police forces around the world are spoiled for choice for fast cars when it comes to patrolling their patch.

There is fierce competition for the world’s fastest police car with the Italians and Germans vying for the title.

Up until now the police prix d’or has been held by a Lamborghini Gallardo which an Italian police patrol is using on the Salerno-Reggio Calabria highway.

It is capable of hitting a top speed of 192mph, which is probably ample to keep up with the most reckless of motorists.

But the Germans have their eye on a car which would leave the Lamborghini trailing in its wake.

It has placed an order for a Brabus CLS V12 S Rocket which has a top speed of 225mph. It will be used on the fastest stretches of the autobahn.

 

In San Diego officers are using a custom made police car with integrated shotgun mounts and a top speed of 155mph.

This article states that some of the British police officers drive the Greenest, if not the meanest, among all forces – the tiny  SmartforTwo cars.

TransportGooru wonders if this San Diego squad car is a silly Dodge Charger.  American police officers should think about doing some police work in Europe!  It will make a great cinema when California Highway Patrol chasing some Hollywood superstar’s Lamborghini Gallardo with his Dodge Charger with integrated shot gun mounts!
On a releated note, few days back a South Carolina Trooper, J.D. McGaha, was cited for speeding in his unmarked patrol car.  Guess what he got for mashing his Dodge Charger – 3 days suspension, possible fine worth $355 & 6 points on his license. Oh, his Dodge Charger was taken back by his Department. Trooper McGaha is definitely not driving a Charger like a Ferrari anymore. Read the TransportGooru article on this incident here.
Read more 1

The “Chosen One” – NY Times profiles Obama’s Car Czar-lite, Mr. Steven Rattner

April 8, 2009 at 12:01 am

(Source:  New York Times; Photo: Jay Mailin/Bloombern News)

Obama’s Top Auto Industry Troubleshooter

After 26 years as one of the most politically connected investment bankers on Wall Street, Steven Rattner finally took a job in Washington — only it is not quite the one friends and business associates thought it would be.
Washington buzzed that Mr. Rattner, a big name in the New York media world who, friends say, aspires to a cabinet post like Treasury secretary, would be named the car czar of the Obama administration. Instead, he is one of 14 people on a committee that is orchestrating the rescue of the giant automakers.

Still, Mr. Rattner, a well-known media banker, is playing a central role as car czar lite, traveling to Detroit to visit plants, meeting with the automakers’ bankers, unions and bondholders, and advising the White House on which companies seem salvageable and how. If he succeeds, he may get a chance at a larger job in the administration.

That is a big if. He has to push the car companies to overhaul decades-old practices, persuade his former colleagues on Wall Street to lower their demands on the automakers’ debt payments and appeal to union leaders who may be turned off by Mr. Rattner’s financial success.

Mr. Rattner said in an interview that he has long been interested in returning to Washington, where he worked as a newspaper reporter 30 years ago, and that he hoped to stay on for some time to work on aspects of the financial crisis.

“In the fall, as the economic crisis intensified, it became clearer and clearer to me that this was a moment of historic importance,” Mr. Rattner said, “and if one was ever to have an interest in serving your country in the area of economic policy, this was the moment.”

Mr. Rattner has been among the most politically connected people in the banking industry. He and his wife, Maureen White, who together have been referred to by New York magazine as the “D.N.C.’s A.T.M.,” have hosted many Democratic fund-raisers at their lavish apartment on Fifth Avenue. They were initially Clinton supporters, but they hosted events for Barack Obama after he sealed the nomination.

Click here to read the entire article.

Read more Comments Off

FAA Scrambles to Add Air Traffic Controllers

April 5, 2009 at 1:03 pm

Mike Zara @ Flickr

 (Source: New York Times)

Like many other air traffic controllers, Michael Pearson was hired by the Federal Aviation Administration in the early 1980s to help replace more than 10,000 striking air traffic controllers who were fired en masse by President Ronald Reagan.

These days he works in the control tower at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. But he may soon become part of an exodus of controllers from the work force, a legacy of those departures nearly three decades ago.

Mr. Pearson, who is also a lawyer and a professor of aviation law at Arizona State University, will turn 50 next year and is considering retiring. Thousands of other controllers are also weighing such a move. Controllers must retire at 56, although they are allowed to retire earlier if they have 25 years of service (or 20 years if they are at least 50).

Because of this retirement bubble, the F.A.A. is in the midst of a hiring surge that began in 2005; its Air Traffic Control Workforce plan has set a goal of hiring 17,000 controllers by 2017.

About 15,000 air traffic controllers are now employed in the United States, including about 6,000 who have been hired since 2005, said Hank Krakowski, chief operating officer for the F.A.A.’s air traffic organization. The agency’s workforce plan calls for 1,900 to be hired this year; 500 are now in training at the F.A.A. Academy.

Another factor driving hiring is a planned modernization of the air traffic control system. When controllers leave their posts to train on new systems, added personnel will be needed to fill their spots.

Training to be an air traffic controller can take years. Applicants must be under 30 and have either a minimum of a high school diploma and three years of full-time work experience or four years of college. (Some combination of the three can be acceptable as well.)

About 70 percent of applicants have come from the military’s air traffic control system or have completed the F.A.A. Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative Program, offered nationwide at 13 colleges and universities.

Click here to read the entire article.

 

Read more 1

President Obama’s Nominees for USDOT Administrations: FHWA – Victor Mendez; RITA – Peter Appel

April 3, 2009 at 12:43 pm

(Source: Washington Post)

Victor M. Mendez, director of the Arizona Department of Transportation, is Obama’s pick for administrator of the Federal Highway Administration. Mendez worked under former governor Janet Napolitano before she became Obama’s homeland security secretary. In Arizona, Mendez helped implement the state’s multi-billion dollar freeway system and gained extensive experience in transportation funding, technology, infrastructure, research and planning.

Joining Mendez at the Transportation Department will be Peter H. Appel, Obama’s nominee for administrator of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration. A principal with the global management consulting firm of A.T. Kearney, Inc., Appel has over 20 years of experience in transportation and infrastructure projects. He has helped organizations in the railroad, trucking, airline and ocean shipping industries, and he previously served as a top aide at the Federal Aviation Administration and at Amtrak.

Below are the brief Bios of the nominees as shown in Washington Post.

Victor M. Mendez, Nominee for Administrator, Federal Highway Administration, Department of Transportation

Victor M. Mendez was a member of former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano’s Cabinet as the Director of the Arizona Department of Transportation. He has extensive experience in transportation including innovations in the areas of funding and financing, technology, infrastructure, research, planning and internal operations. Mendez has served as a past President of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and in 2008 he was selected as Leader of the Year in Public Policy in Transportation by the Arizona Capitol Times. Previously, Mendez was selected as the Deputy State Engineer to lead the implementation of the Phoenix area’s multi-billion dollar freeway system. Mendez earned a Masters of Business Administration degree from Arizona State University and a Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering degree from the University of Texas at El Paso. 

Peter H. Appel, Nominee for Administrator, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Department of Transportation

Peter H. Appel is a Principal with the global management consulting firm of A.T. Kearney, Inc. He has led business improvement initiatives for clients in the private and public sectors, with a focus on Transportation and Infrastructure. Appel has over 20 years of experience in Transportation, and has supported organizations in the railroad, trucking, airline, and ocean shipping industries with growth strategy, supply chain improvement, post-merger integration, public-private partnerships, and other key business and policy issues. Previously, Appel served as the Special Assistant to the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, and as Assistant Director for Pricing and Yield Management at Amtrak. Appel earned his bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University in Economics and Computer Science with Highest Honors, and received his Master of Science in Transportation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Click here to read more.

Read more Comments Off

Attention Job Seekers: Are you sufficiently intellectually and professionally nimble? If so, Obama’s Auto Task Force would like to hire you

March 23, 2009 at 6:22 pm

Government’s Auto Task Force is hiring, looking for Wall Street experience

(Source: Autoblog)
Curious what it takes to be a member of the recently-created Auto Task Force? Thanks to an email sent out by Harry J. Wilson, a newly-hired Task Force worker, there’s no need to wonder. Some knowledge of the auto industry would reportedly be helpful, though prospective applicants and their family members cannot currently own any stock in the Detroit automakers or serve on any of the D-3’s boards of directors. Would-be applicants would also need to be “sufficiently intellectually and professionally nimble,” whatever that means, and have 8-12 years of experience on Wall Street.
According the Detroit News, the source of the Autoblog article,   “Harry J. Wilson, a new member of the task force, recently sent an e-mail that circulated on Wall Street, seeking applicants for up to four jobs on the autos team. The task force’s findings will help chart the government’s role in the future of the U.S. auto industry.  That message said the team was looking for up to two hires in each of two job categories: principal/vice president level and associate/analyst level. Candidates should have eight to 12 years experience and be “sufficiently intellectually and professionally nimble.” The analyst would have “the same skills,” with less experience.

“Our team is quite small,” said Wilson, formerly of Silver Point Capital and the Blackstone Group, in the March 13 e-mail obtained by The Detroit News. “The work is incredibly intense. The amount of work is massive, the timelines are tight and the level of focus is also very high.”

Click here to read the entire article. 
Read more Comments Off

New job openings at the USDOT – March 09, 2009

March 9, 2009 at 6:34 pm

Communication & Outreach Specialist – US DOT Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Joint Program Office – Washington, DC 

http://tinyurl.com/b95y7h

Knowledge & Technology Transfer Program Manager – US DOT FHWA – Washington, DC 

http://tinyurl.com/ch55pz

(Information Courtesy: Bernie’s TCN)

Read more Comments Off

Jobs: Transport Analyst @ SAIC; Reseach Fellowship @ Transport for America

February 20, 2009 at 8:23 pm

Transportation for America Research Fellowship (Posted: Feb 20, 2009)

The Transportation for America Campaign seeks a Fellow to undertake research in support of national transportation policy reform. This is a tremendous opportunity for a recent graduate to learn about federal transportation policy and reform issues while performing applied research on federal, state and local transportation programs.

Transportation for America is a growing and diverse coalition focused on creating a national transportation program that will take America into the 21st century by building a modernized infrastructure and healthy communities where people can live, work and play. To find out more about Transportation for America visit the www.t4america.org.  The campaign is staffed by Smart Growth America andReconnecting America.

Read more Comments Off

Regional Managers – Imago North America

February 18, 2009 at 7:52 pm

Regional Managers – Imago North America

 Imago North America (formerly ADDCO) is hiring Regional Managers to help grow its Fixed Dynamic Message Sign Business in the USA. Experienced transportation sales & business development individuals should submit resumes to jobs@addco.com.  Candidates should thrive in a fast-paced, professional global company.  For more information on Imago, please visit www.imagoscreens.com. 

Read more Comments Off
1 … 31 32 33