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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Reconfigured drum and air disc brakes that meet the new federal stopping-distance rule for commercial vehicles that takes effect in August made their debut here, and one truck maker said air discs will be standard on all its Class 8 trucks.

Truckload carrier USA Truck said its chairman, Robert Powell, will retire in May and be succeeded by Terry Elliott, who has been a director at the company since 2003.

In March 1972, Riva Ridge was training to win the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, Col. Harland Sanders was still making appearances at his Kentucky Fried Chicken empire, Transport Topics reported that the Secretary of Transportation proposed the “Busting Road Trust Fund,” and a truck tire salesman turned lobbyist hosted the first Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky.

Brandt Truck Line, an 88-year-old less-than-truckload carrier based in Bloomington, Ill., shut its doors Tuesday, giving no prior notice.

SAN DIEGO — The United States’ new cross-border trucking initiative with Mexico will be a small-scale, “self-limiting” program because Mexican carriers will have to meet a strict set of safety standards to operate in the United States, the head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator said.

U.S. Class 8 retail truck sales jumped 30.8% in February for the 14th monthly gain in a row, WardsAuto.com reported last week. It was the largest gain of the expansion.

SAN DIEGO — An industry consensus appears to be emerging in support of electronic logging devices to monitor driver hours but not truck performance, as the Truckload Carriers Association endorsed that technology last week and American Trucking Associations moved in the same direction.

Schneider National Inc., Ruan Transport Corp., Falcon Transport Co., and Werner Enterprises know from experience that military veterans make valuable employees. These firms actively recruit them to fill not only driver jobs but management posts as well.

Gary Salisbury, president and CEO of Fikes Truck Line, Hope, Ark., was elected chairman of the Truckload Carriers Association for 2011-2012 at TCA’s annual meeting in San Diego.

Rochelle Gorman, CEO of CalArk International, received the first Influential Woman in Trucking award this week at the Truckload Carriers Association meeting in San Diego.