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Over the past 25 years of running a freight brokerage operation, I have seen numerous commentaries in Transport Topics written by disappointed and disgruntled carriers putting down the brokerage industry.

The Department of Transportation will host a two-day summit this week on problems surrounding distracted driving and solutions to combat what has become a national epidemic.

WASHINGTON — Anne Ferro, President Obama’s choice to head the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, had her day before the Senate Commerce Committee last week as its members weighed her confirmation.

The House of Representatives last week approved a three-month extension of the current highway funding law, over the objections of many House Republicans who said the bill was a step toward raising fuel taxes.

The recession, lower freight levels and job cuts at fleets have combined to push driver turnover at truckload carriers to the lowest level in 14 years during the second quarter, according to American Trucking Associations.

If manufacturers’ claims about the latest developments in cargo refrigeration units are correct, motor carriers now can haul fresh, frozen or deep-frozen loads for any distance with reefer-fuel savings of as much as 80%, compared with past costs — and with little or no reefer maintenance.

After coming to a consensus that a new Interstate 5 bridge across the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon should have 12 traffic lanes, local officials now have said the plan is too expensive and must be scaled back.

BALTIMORE — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has sent its final electronic onboard recorders rule to the U.S. Department of Transportation for review, acting agency Administrator Rose McMurray told Transport Topics last week.

The Senate has approved legislation that would increase the funding for the Department of Transportation in fiscal 2010 and would allow Maine to raise the truck weight on Interstate 95 as part of a pilot program.