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This afternoon's headlines: Surprise safety inspections by Nebraska State Police vet 490 violations; South American burglars suspected in recent high-tech cargo thefts in California; and China trade vote praised by business, but organized labor issues warning to candidates.

The Department of Transportation is sticking to its self-imposed deadline of completing an update to the federal hours-of-service regulations for truck drivers by year’s end.

Computers have taken truck communications into the digital age, as every turn of the wheels and firing of the pistons can be recorded and transmitted to a carrier’s headquarters or a customer’s loading docks. The issue now is how best to capitalize on that data stream.

The relationship between the parts distribution systems of the original equipment manufacturers and the online parts exchanges that are starting to populate the World Wide Web is like that of an elephant to a mouse: The mouse is quick and can fit into small places, while the elephant is big and powerful but in some ways fears the mouse.

Trucking is starting to pay the price for the go-go economy of the last five years, the head of Volvo Trucks North America said in a May 16 speech.

Oregon voters overwhelmingly defeated a ballot measure that would have repealed the state’s weight-distance tax on trucks, added a diesel fuel tax and increased the state tax on gasoline.

In the multi-million dollar advertising war over Measure 82 that pitted Oregon Trucking Associations against the American Automobile Association of Oregon and Idaho, the truckers expected to fight the auto club’s deep pockets. But funds opposing a weight-distance tax repeal also came from an unexpected source.

The National Tank Truck Carriers Association declined to take a formal vote May 17 on its future relationship with American Trucking Associations, hoping that time will allow the two groups to retain close relations.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the federal government can alter the hours of service to require more time off for truckers, but drivers will not be able to stop and sleep unless a solution is found for the shortage of parking spaces for commercial vehicles in some areas.