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The Motor Freight Carriers Association said it would be better for the less-than-truckload sector to continue working under the current 63-year-old rules governing drivers than adopt the revisions to the hours of service proposed by the Department of Transportation.

Motor carriers that are delinquent in paying fines levied by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will be taken off the road, under a rule that goes into effect April 16.

A new set of standards on cargo tiedown and securement could be in force as early as July 1, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

David S. Addington, senior vice president and general counsel of American Trucking Associations, has been appointed to the position of counsel to the vice president of the United States by President-elect Bush.

The Environmental Protection Agency last week formally proposed its plan to improve air quality by fortifying standards for diesel fuel and the heavy-duty truck and bus engines that burn the fuel.

Truck drivers will have a harder time cheating on drug tests under changes to the regulations imposed by the Department of Transportation.

California adopted diesel engine regulations for 2005 and 2006, effectively closing an unregulated gap and creating an environmental “law of the land” for truck makers.

The differences in the diesel retrofit programs that have been announced in Sacramento, Calif., and Washington, D.C., revolve around money. While the federal government is unable to say how many dollars will actually be available to clean up commercial fleets and municipal transportation, the California government has mandated millions of dollars to help trucking companies retrofit truck engines to meet air-quality standards.

While the federal government can't say how much it will spend to encourage retrofits with cleaner diesel engines, Sacramento, Calif., is spending $50 million to get as many as 6,000 older, dirtier engines off the road.

California adopted diesel engine regulations for 2005 and 2006, effectively closing an unregulated gap and creating an environmental “law of the land” for truck makers.