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Before they ever get behind the wheel to compete, driving championship contestants have to pick a truck, take a written test and conduct a pre-trip inspection, all under the watchful eyes of judges.

To the sounds of a trumpeter playing Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again” and the applause of family and friends, the winners of the National Truck Driving Championship entered the packed banquet hall at the New Orleans Hilton to celebrate their victories.

An inspector from the New Mexico Motor Transportation Division swept the North American Inspectors’ Championships.

Like Icarus, who built wax wings to fly to the sun, the ascent of dotcom transportation providers likely will be matched by the suddenness of their impending meltdowns.

The 73-year-old Peace Bridge is a truck-traffic time bomb, ready to explode into more congestion and delays on one of the busiest trade links with Canada if construction of a twin span is put on hold, according to an economic study.

Truckers Down Under are up in arms over what are described as “sweatshop” conditions in the Australian trucking industry.

While sales figures for the biggest trucks on the road continue to lag behind those of record-setting 1999, they are well ahead of the numbers from 1998, the year in which the previous record was established.

Canada, usually an oasis of calm, finds itself in a tempest lately over the proposed revisions to its hours-of-service rules.

Diesel prices in 2006 could be 52 cents more per gallon than they are today if the proposed standard for reduced sulfur in diesel fuel becomes law, according to a study conducted for the American Petroleum Institute.