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Heavy-duty truck sales in the United States climbed 35.5% in May to 18,012 from the same month last year, reaching the second-highest total in the current growth cycle as carriers continued to renew their fleets.

Senate Democrats, contractors and other transportation advocates ramped up their rhetoric and the pressure last week in a last-ditch attempt to get a long-term highway bill passed before a temporary transportation funding extension expires.

TAMPA, Fla. — Insurance underwriters for trucking are concerned about the federal Compliance, Safety, Accountability program but are not sure about how to deal with it, an insurance agent told trucking executives meeting here.

SAN DIEGO — Compliance, Safety, Accountability is “here to stay,” but it’s likely that changes are ahead for the program as industry pressure continues to mount, a former administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said.

Allied Systems Holdings Inc., the largest U.S. car hauler, last week filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the second time it has done so, saying it’s continuing to provide service and blaming weakness in the car and light-truck business for the move.

In its second request in a week for closely held federal research, American Trucking Associations is asking federal regulators to publicly release a five-year-old study that contains data explaining how regulators weight violations that it used to compute Compliance, Safety, Accountability program safety scores for drivers and carriers.

Driver turnover at small truckload fleets rose sharply in the first quarter to 71% from 55% in the fourth quarter of 2011, the largest quarter-to-quarter increase in seven years, propelled by financial pressures and other factors, American Trucking Associations reported.

A federal appeals court overturned a stopgap Environmental Protection Agency regulation that allowed Navistar Inc. to pay fines to sell heavy-duty diesel engines that do not meet 2010 emissions standards.

The failure of Congress to pass legislation to provide funding to improve and expand the nation’s highway system has left many roads covered with cracks, potholes and uneven pavement, which are creating additional challenges for some vehicle suspension makers, according to company officials.

FedEx Freight levied a 6.9% rate increase, prompting other less-than-truckload carriers to signal similar moves as they try to capitalize on a strong rate environment.