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Since casting my first ballot for an Oregon Republican slate in 1944, I’ve seen my party shoot itself in various parts of its anatomy. The self-destruct impulse was again indulged in October when state Republican Party delegates met in Redmond and endorsed AAA’s scheme to overturn the Legislature’s 1999 gas tax increase.

Trucking’s largest trade group went on record Nov. 2 in support of allowing truck drivers to be on duty for up to 14 hours a day as long as they get 10 hours of rest.

Trucking’s chief regulator has some advice for trucking: Relax. “My suggestion to everyone who is having an anxiety attack on hours of service is just chill out until the proposed rule is out,” said Julie A. Cirillo, head of the federal Office of Motor Carrier Safety, in an Oct. 31 speech to the Truckload Carriers Association’s board of directors.

The expected showdown over who will be allowed to participate in the National Truck Driving Championships was postponed until further input from state trucking associations can be gathered.

The concept of one diesel fuel for the entire country received an endorsement from members of an American Trucking Associations panel, but it wants a study on the matter first.

Time is money: That simple axiom drove hours of discussion on the harsh realities company executives face in meeting the demands of more freight to haul but fewer drivers to haul it.

Trucks should go no faster than 65 mph, according to a resolution passed by the board of directors of American Trucking Associations.

Trucking can expect minor structural changes in the Office of Motor Carrier Safety for at least another 11 months as it settles into its new home within the Secretary of Transportation’s office, the head of the agency told trucking officials.

Truckers attending American Trucking Associations’ annual management conference took a break from debates over such issues as drivers’ hours of service to put in some hours of service of their own.