Toll Collect CEO Ousted

The man in charge of Germany’s beleaguered toll system for heavy trucks finally had to pay the piper, following weeks of repeated system failures. Michael Rummel was fired from his position as CEO of Toll Collect, whose high-tech toll collecting system is still not running despite a planned August introduction. Burghardt Ziermann, currently operations manager and management spokesman, will take over the helm of the Deutsche Telekom-DaimlerChrysler joint venture. The company said the personnel change means it has "made room for a new start of the trial period." The media had reported that Rummel ordered the installation of toll collecting machines even after Telekom unit T-Systems told him in writing that the machines didn’t work. The high-tech system is meant to deploy satellites, dashboard computers, toll bridges and payment machines to collect an estimated €2.8 billion ($3.3 billion) a year using automation as opposed to workers.