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New rules targeting how many hours truckers can legally drive and what companies must do to protect their employees from workplace injuries will probably top the list of this year’s federal regulatory initiatives.

In recent years, California truckers and environmentalists have tussled over diesel emissions in what could be the opening skirmishes of a coming national war over the health effects of truck exhaust.

French truck drivers lifted a two-day blockade of the nation’s borders Jan. 13 after reaching an agreement with Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot on how to apply France’s 35-hour workweek law.

The Oregon branch of the American Automobile Association isn’t going to quietly let go of the state’s weight-distance tax on trucking, despite the 1999 legislation that repealed the tax.

Combined Transport, Central Point, Ore., has purchased flatbed truckload carrier Sunrise Express of Vancouver, Wash., in a move that is expected to increase revenue by 20% and improve its service offerings.

The national average price of diesel fuel dipped to $1.307 on Jan. 10, the first drop in three weeks, tracking a drop in crude oil prices to $24.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

When a task force of trucking executives developed a strategic plan for American Trucking Associations in the spring of 1998, they envisioned a national trade organization representing carriers before Congress and federal agencies, in the courts and in the media.

Building a winning trucking association is tough. You need a good game plan, a hard-working team, and you have to go out and get the best players to take you to the top. That’s exactly what American Trucking Associations has done, and we’ll be a stronger association because of our efforts.

Continuing economic growth and mounting trucking costs, especially for driver pay, will set the stage for higher freight rates in 2000, Management Outlook Forum panelists agreed.