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Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee, wants to give truck owners a small break by distributing some of the costs of the Heavy Vehicle Use Tax to the buyers.

The Truck Manufacturers Association will take the Department of Justice to court this week in response to the government’s recommendation that TMA be excluded from a case that led to a 1998 consent decree establishing a deadline for cleaner heavy-duty diesel engines.

Members of the House Highways and Transit subcommittee will be visiting border inspection stations in San Diego and Laredo, Texas, as part of a fact-finding venture to determine the safety of Mexican trucks that cross into the United States.

WASHINGTON — Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao told a Senate appropriations subcommittee last week that her department would not propose new ergonomics standards any time soon, and that she was not committed to a two-year rulemaking deadline sought by some lawmakers.

The U.S. Senate confirmed Michael P. Jackson as deputy secretary of the Department of Transportation in a voice vote on May 4.

WASHINGTON — Michael P. Jackson, nominated to be Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta’s deputy, is a well-qualified shoo-in for the job, according to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee, has introduced a bill that would prohibit last year’s proposed hours-of-service revisions from being adopted.

Truck manufacturers say they cannot fit engines mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency into 2003 model-year trucks because the engines will not be ready in time.

The American Petroleum Institute filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency that could prevent the government from implementing its ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel emission rule.

Organized labor, smarting from the congressional defeat of the ergonomics regulations, is regrouping and preparing to fight for candidates in the 2002 elections who would push for new protections against musculoskeletal injuries on the job.