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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, which means there will be no extension in the public comment period.

The entire trucking industry, not just the truck makers, 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.

The relationship between original equipment manufacturers and the online parts exchanges 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.

Proposed changes to the hours-of-service rules for truck drivers would come at a steep cost for tanker carriers, according to speakers at the National Tank Truck Carriers Association’s annual conference.

In the news this morning: Maine truckers wary of proposed EPA diesel pollution controls; Swiss government votes to remove transportation restrictions on heavy trucks; and QuoteShip to add ocean freight to its menu of services.

The American Transportation Research Institute said it selected three project teams to evaluate mobile idle reduction technologies on heavy-duty trucks.

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.

In the multi-million dollar advertising war over the weight-distance tax repeal in Oregon, an unlikely player helped fund the move to kill the proposal: truck stops.

Trucking and transportation are a good, small example of why Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is worried about the economy at large.