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The Mid-America Trucking Show this year was miles beyond the somber version last year. The exhibition hall in Louisville was humming last week with new products and rising expectations, reflecting the fact that virtually all segments of trucking are showing signs of recovery.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Truck makers and their suppliers returned to marketing products here that intrigue drivers and appeal to fleet executives based on durability, comfort, ease of operation and even pizzazz, after years spent surviving the Great Recession and straining to meet government-imposed emissions requirements.

Truck tonnage rose 2.6% in February, the third consecutive year-over-year increase, as the industry continues a steady rebound, American Trucking Associations reported.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said Friday that 74% of commercial truck and bus drivers are now using their safety belts, up from 65% in 2007.

A new diesel-emissions-reduction program at the Port of New York and New Jersey that will ban pre-1994 trucks beginning in 2011 will be costly and burdensome for motor carriers and comes at a time when fleets are reeling from the recession, state trucking officials said.

The owners of more than two-thirds of the 2,200 new Class 8 trucks bought with the assistance of $20,000 each in Port of Los Angeles grants face financial penalties because their trucks will not make the required 300 gate moves during their first year of operation, port officials said.

Electronic onboard recorders should be mandatory for all truckers operating in North America, the president of the said.

Many truckload fleets have almost overnight found themselves in a mini driver shortage, as demand for freight-hauling capacity is suddenly climbing in some markets and carriers expecting better times seek to put more trucks on the road.

Manufacturers and their dealers sold 19.1% more big trucks in February than they did a year earlier, marking the second consecutive month in which Class 8 sales beat their year-ago totals, according to WardsAuto.com.