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ARLINGTON, Va. — Backers of the current driver hours-of-service rule far outnumbered opponents in the first of four scheduled public hearings held by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration as it reviews the much-contested regulation.

The rate of fatalities in accidents involving trucks fell 12.3% in 2008 from the previous year — the largest year-to-year drop on record — to its lowest level on record, according to an American Trucking Associations analysis of Department of Transportation data.

Millions of Americans turn their personal goals into New Year’s resolutions. In a sense, trucking CEOs also make New Year’s resolutions for their firms: the annual operating plan. But while failing to keep individual resolutions is disappointing, when a trucking company leader fails to “make plan,” the financial results can be catastrophic.

U.S. intermodal rail traffic rose 1.3% last week compared with the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads said.

The Jan. 4 Opinion piece, “Workers’ Comp and Our Aging Workforce,” has to be the most biased article I have ever read.

Usually in Washington, as elsewhere, something has to be broken, or at least underperforming, before some branch of the government moves to repair or replace it. That being the case, you might ask why the Department of Transportation is looking to tinker around with its hours-of-service rule.

Universal Truckload Services Inc. said it has acquired three companies that offer a variety of transportation services, continuing the company’s plan to grow through acquisitions.

Diamond Phoenix and System Logistics have completed their merger and are now operating as one company under the System Logistics Corp. name, the company said Wednesday.

The rate of truck-involved fatalities in the United States dropped 12.3% in 2008 to a record low, American Trucking Associations said Wednesday.