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Hazardous materials placards may be placed at a level below the trailer’s floor and behind the rear underride guard as long as they are not obscured, according to a June 2 decision by the Department of Transportation’s Research and Special Programs Administration.

The price of diesel fuel dropped 1.2 cents this week, amid predictions that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will increase production by another 500,000 barrels a day.

The flip side of an old adage often heard on the streets of Washington must be, “If it is broken, fix it.” So, when it comes to the current system of issuing and monitoring commercial driver licenses, we need the Maytag repair guy, and now.

On the Friday morning before Memorial Day weekend, a North Carolina truck driver hauling frozen chickens to Annapolis, Md., ran his truck off the Capital Beltway [Interstate 495]. Not surprisingly, the driver distanced himself from the cause of the crash, asserting that he “wanted to stop and pull over in Virginia, but couldn’t.”

Technology-savvy trucking companies are experienced at gathering all kinds of data — from fuel mileage to idle time to tire pressure — often with the aid of on-board computers and wireless communications. But what to do with those mounds of information once they are accumulated?

A study that attempted to warn of high-risk behavior that could expose long-haul truckers to the human immunodificiency virus drew protests and stormy reaction from many readers, including those who make their living at truck stops.

The researcher who led the survey on long-haul truckers and their risk of exposure to HIV wants to clarify several things about the findings.

The atmosphere at many of today’s trucks stops differs little from a suburban shopping mall. Truck stops and malls are usually clean, well-lighted places with a wide variety of goods and services for sale and many different opportunities for amusement and entertainment.

A Senate critic of the proposed ergonomics standards contends more analysis and response time is needed by state and local governments, railroads and the U.S. Postal Service.