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August is our favorite month. It’s usually a relaxed time of year, when most people take vacations and kick back a little before rushing back into the thick of things. The seasonal shipping crush usually begins to take shape in September, so August feels a bit like the lull before the storm.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said it sent its hours-of-service proposal to the White House for review on July 26.

Federal transportation officials considering fuel-efficiency standards for heavy trucks should concentrate their early regulatory efforts on engines and tractors, not trailers, American Trucking Associations said.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has proposed a rule that would eliminate requirements for special permits to haul some hazmats, ranging from liquefied petroleum gas to anhydrous ammonia fertilizers.

Senate Democrats introduced legislation last week that would provide truckers rebates of $64,000 for every natural-gas Class 8 truck put into service by 2013.

The Obama administration must produce a plan to solve the ongoing border trucking dispute with Mexico by October, under a provision inserted in the Transportation Department’s 2011 budget.

The U.S. retail diesel average price reversed course last week, rising 2 cents a gallon to $2.919 after dropping 6.2 cents over the previous four weeks, the Department of Energy reported.

Consumer confidence fell this month to the lowest level since November, according to the latest Reuters/University of Michigan monthly consumer sentiment index released Friday.

Supply chain technology firm Intermec Inc. said its second-quarter net earnings loss was $2.7 million, or 4 cents per share, compared with a loss of $6.5 million, or 11 cents, a year ago.

Manufacturing activity in the Chicago region grew in July, showing expansion for the tenth straight month, the Institute for Supply Chain Management-Chicago said Friday.