���ϳԹ���

I continue to be perplexed by May 10’s “Opinion” writer, David Dwinell. Call me old school, but I prefer my statements to be supported by facts.

This week’s issue of Transport Topics includes some interesting news about the federal government’s new safety regime for trucking, Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010, including that the program is going to be renamed.

The long-awaited new federal chassis safety rules take effect June 30, but officials said questions remain about damage reports truckers must file to keep equipment in roadworthy shape.

Catching employers who misclassify their employees as independent contractors would help ensure a “level playing field in the marketplace,” a top official with the U.S. Department of Labor told a Senate committee.

Tim Lynch, American Trucking Associations’ top lobbyist, said last week he would leave the federation in July to join a Washington, D.C., law firm’s government affairs department.

Some trucking executives said they are concerned that providing additional training to their drivers to meet the federal government’s new safety program may put their independent contractor status at risk.

New U.S. registrations of heavy-duty trucks grew 8.4% in April compared with the same month a year ago, following an 11.3% gain in March, according to R.L. Polk & Co.

After improving along with most other equities during the last nine months of 2009, trucking stocks this year have done little more than tread water, with a good run from early February through late April sandwiched between two brief pull-backs by investors.

A coalition of interest groups that has repeatedly succeeded in challenging the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s hours-of-service rule last week pushed for dramatically cutting the current daily and weekly work-time limits.