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By now, everyone involved in trucking has experienced in some way a shortage of truck availability — and we’re only in the beginning of the second quarter. Transport Topics’ April 26 issue had a front-page story on fleet failures that quoted some interesting statistics: More than 7,100 carriers have been lost since the middle of 2008, with 730 failing during the first quarter of 2010.    

This Editorial appears in the May 24 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

Canadian truckers called on their federal government to junk its plan to implement a national 2% biodiesel mandate, saying that a government study found the cost of the mandate would be nearly five times greater than the benefit.

U.S. registrations of used Class 8 trucks jumped to 69,474 vehicles in the first quarter of the year, nearly 54% more than the same period in 2009, R.L. Polk & Co. said.

At a time when trucking has its pick of more communications options than ever, an increasing number of federal regulations has influenced not only when carriers adopt technology but also what technology they invest in.

Truck-stop operators and other retail outlets praised an amendment to the Senate’s financial reform package that would limit the fees credit- and debit-card companies charge stores.

The Obama administration was set last week to outline a path to national fuel-economy standards for large trucks, bringing industry and government officials to the White House to announce a plan that could aim at driving habits as well as equipment changes to reduce fuel use.

Carrier and shipper executives are changing their focus from surviving the recession to managing their changing relationships with customers and labor as the economic recovery continues, according to sessions at the annual Transplace Inc. Shipper Symposium.

Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc., Cudahy, Wis., has completed trucking’s first initial public stock offering since 2003, raising $148.4 million to repay debt as the company considers acquisition.