ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø

If ever there was a time to hone productivity, it is now. With fuel costs through the roof and cash in short supply, fleet managers strain to wring the last ounce of productivity from every asset in the fleet. ell, maybe not every asset.

A detailed human-factors analysis of three fatal truck accidents in Canada adds weight to the argument that improving driver safety performance is extremely complex and that highly variable factors such as time since the driver last ate a meal should get more attention.

The North American Free Trade Agreement arbitration panel ruling on the U.S.-Mexico cross-border trucking dispute will release its report on Feb. 5. The report, believed to find the U.S. violated Nafta by refusing to allow Mexican trucks to enter the country, was expected by Jan. 10.

The Defense Department is slated to approve a new regime for paying fuel surcharges in late January that will then go into effect April 1, according to an official of the Military Traffic Management Command.

With both the manufacturing and retail sectors signaling a crunch in December, and with more trucking and other transportation companies warning in January about rising losses as their customers retrench, the Federal Reserve should cut interest rates another half-point at the end of this month.

In the news this morning: Truck rams Calif. Capitol, killing driver; Delphi 4Q earnings beat forecasts; OPEC to cut oil production by 1.5 million barrels; and more.

Today's technology headlines: Satellite firm Globalstar halts payment on its debts; Cisco faces delay in shipping switches; satellite rivals TMI, Motient to merge; and more.

This afternoon's headlines: OPEC to cut production by 1.5 million barrels; trucking opinions vary on NY toll proposal; Williams Controls says its truck parts business 'sound' despite losses;

Penske Truck Leasing has agreed to acquire another leader in the field, Rollins Truck Leasing, for $754 million.