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Nearly 1,800 special interest groups ranging from road builders trade groups to the AARP spent nearly $45 million and employed 2,100 lobbyists during the first half of 2009, mostly to lobby Congress on a new transportation authorization bill, according to a report of the Washington, D.C., non-profit group Center for Public Integrity.

Transmission-maker ArvinMeritor Inc. on Sept. 14 had its first day in court with rival Eaton Corp., which ArvinMeritor said has monopolized the North American market for heavy-truck transmissions.

The Obama administration last week issued its proposed new fuel efficiency and first-ever national greenhouse gases reduction standards for passenger cars and light trucks.

The House Judiciary Committee approved railroad legislation Sept. 16 that is designed to reduce carriers’ pricing power by removing the industry’s anti-trust authority.

Extensive flooding in the southeast has caused closure of a number of major roads, news services reported Monday.

A federal district judge in Los Angeles has delayed until Feb. 2 a trial on a lawsuit filed by American Trucking Associations for a permanent injunction to block all of the concessions requirements in the clean air plans of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif.

An index of leading economic indicators rose 0.6% in August, marking the fifth straight increase, the New York-based Conference Board said Monday.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is increasing its use of Global Positioning System history logs as supporting evidence in driver hours-of-service audits, an executive with Qualcomm Inc. said last week.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson said the agency will reconsider 2008 national smog standards to ensure they protect human health.

Oil fell to near $70 a barrel early Monday as the dollar strengthened, Bloomberg reported.