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UPS, Machinists Union Reach Pact • TSA Chief Cargo Says Trailer Locks Coming • Storm Buries East Coast • Hyundai Opens U.S. Truck Division • And more ...

A selection of responses to Transport Topics' question to readers: "Is this a good climate in which to raise freight rates? And if you raise them, can you make the higher rates stick?"

Many less-than-truckload carriers have installed comprehensive freight management software systems to reduce paperwork, auto-rate bills, computerize dispatch, plan routine truck maintenance and track trailers and freight.

The number of orders places with U.S. factories rose 1.5% in October, the first increase in three months, according to the Commerce Department.

The exclusive report on the front page of TT that the Department of Transportation is about to float its latest plan for reforming hours-of-service rules for commercial drivers is another reminder of the long agenda trucking faces in the new year.

Volvo Offers Cash Incentive • Covenant Secures Additional Insurance • N.J. Announces Truck Safety Plan • API Report Sends Crude Prices Down • And more ...

War Game Assesses Impact of 'Dirty' Bomb in Ports • Postal Workers to Get Anti-Radiation Medication • U.S. Offers Guidance on Terror Insurance •.

State and federal officials said a Tennessee weigh station would soon begin operating a first-of-its-kind truck radiation detector that can detect low levels of radiation and spot materials that could be used to make weapons of mass destruction.

The Bush administration will not propose increasing fuel taxes to fund bridge and highway construction programs in legislation next year to reauthorize surface transportation legislation, but could support allowing fuel taxes to rise with inflation, Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said in a recent interview.