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The Port of Baltimore is offering short-haul drayage operators and owners who scrap their older engine models up to $20,000 each toward the cost of a Class 8 vehicle that meets or exceeds the 2007 EPA emission certified engine standard.

YRC Worldwide CEO James Welch and FedEx Freight President William Logue, the top leaders at the two largest less-than-truckload carriers, last week underscored the urgent need for highway funding legislation and the potential for longer trailers to improve productivity.

Provisions for heavier, longer trucks contained in a transportation reauthorization bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday did not survive the bill’s first hearing.

The U.S. Department of Transportation will take applications from states for $500 million in surface transportation projects under a fourth round of its competitive Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program.

As Congress returns to work this week after its extended holiday vacation, members face two deadlines that, if not met, could bring transportation safety programs and construction projects to a halt.

Legislation introduced Friday in both houses of Congress would provide for federal oversight of bridge and tunnel tolls, allowing the U.S. Department of Transportation to determine whether proposed toll increases should be implemented.

State transportation departments desperate for money to pay for projects took steps toward imposing new tolls or increasing existing ones in 2011, often inviting disdain from the trucking industry.

The Department of Transportation is awarding $511 million to fund 46 transportation projects in 33 states and Puerto Rico, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said.

The Senate Commerce Committee said it plans to hold its first hearing Wednesday on a series of bills as part of two-year transportation reauthorization legislation.

The Senate Commerce Committee has set Dec. 14 to hear three bills introduced this week as part of the two-year transportation reauthorization package moving through the Senate.