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DALLAS — At its first stand-alone meeting in two years outside of American Trucking Associations’ annual management conference, the National Accounting and Finance Council board said it planned to reorganize the group to become more flexible and provide more input into ATA planning.

Freight-matching service and technology company TransCore Inc. filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission June 10 to become a publicly traded company as part of an effort to raise equity, generate liquidity and repay debt during favorable market conditions, the company announced.

Aside from the general freight-rate hikes some less-than-truckload carriers posted recently, fleets are passing additional cost increases to shippers as they adjust fuel surcharges to recoup fast-rising fuel prices.

Less-than-truckload carriers said they boosted profits in the first quarter both because the strengthening economy had improved business generally and because shippers were shifting some freight away from the tightening truckload sector.

NEW YORK — Motor carriers here said an inability to hire and retain qualified drivers continued to prevent them from adding capacity and the problem would not be resolved until the industry increased driver pay..

Truckload carriers that rushed to raise freight rates earlier this year because of new driver work rules generally posted sharply higher profits for the first quarter despite surging fuel prices, tightened industry capacity and a tight labor market.

Less-than-truckload carrier Yellow Roadway Corp. said May 3 that it planned to exit its tire outsourcing agreement with retread rubber and retreading equipment maker Bandag Inc. by mid-year.

Rate bureau SMC3 recommended a 6.1% increase in general tariff rates for its 125 less-than-truckload carrier members to take effect June 7, an action that could presage a widespread request by LTL carriers of their shipper customers.

Trucking analysts have begun to debate whether a fleet-building trend among small truckload carriers might undermine efforts by big carriers to raise freight rates while avoiding major fleet expansions.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — FedEx Freight will test engines from every major manufacturer before 2007, even as it continues to work out the kinks in current engine models, said Dennis Beal, vice president of physical assets for the less-than-truckload carrier.