ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø

The 106th Congress gave the trucking industry a reprieve by putting the hours-of-service rules on hold in September, but federal lawmakers were unable to reach a similar consensus on ergonomic regulations as their post-election session drew to a close.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed standards for heavy-duty diesel engine emissions in 2007 have produced an argument that has bounced back and forth for months among engine manufacturers, the makers of antipollution devices and oil refiners.

As the winter solstice approaches, the sky darkens earlier and the lights at the FedEx Ground distribution hub here burn longer so that gifts adorned with impersonal bar codes can speed along cold conveyor belts toward their final destination at a rate of 540 feet per minute.

The fabled Santa may drive a sleigh, but for South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation, he’ll be hauling gifts in an 18-wheeler.

The price of diesel fuel dropped 4.5 cents per gallon last week — to its lowest level in 15 weeks — and might have fallen even more if it were not for the high price of natural gas, a market analyst says.

Truck drivers will have a harder time cheating on drug tests under changes to the regulations imposed by the Department of Transportation.

A surplus in the fund for hazardous materials emergency preparedness may mean that the Department of Transportation will slash hazmat haulers registration fees, at least for a while.

Transport ministers may approve a plan that includes more restrictive hours-of-service regulations for overseas truckers and a weekend ban on trucks travelling international roads.

In a twist of fate that finds the road riding the truck instead of the truck riding the road, three flatbed trucks carried sections of old Route 66 from Oklahoma to the nation’s capital.