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Problems with financing forced the cancellation of two major transportation buyouts: Xtra Corp.’s purchase by Apollo Management; and Celadon Group’s acquisition by Odyssey Investment Partners. tra, a major lessor of over-the-road trailers, marine containers and intermodal equipment, terminated its merger agreement with Apollo, a New York-based investment firm, and Interpool Inc., an ocean container leasing company, on Nov. 25.

For weeks now, we’ve been hearing from certain quarters that the way to improve trucking safety is to transfer federal oversight from the Federal Highway Administration to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

No one in trucking has to be convinced that there’s plenty of competition today.

In Washington, D.C., the arrival of the Capitol Christmas tree is a traditional reminder that the clock is ticking on holiday shopping.

Television and radio channel surfers in Nebraska last week caught the first wave of an advertising campaign created by the Nebraska Motor Carriers Assn. to improve the industry’s image.

The European Union’s Ministers of Transport Committee, meeting in Brussels Dec. 1, accepted a deal that allows EU-registered trucks transit rights through Switzerland, but at a very high price for road transport.

The 1998 National Truck and Bus Safety Summit collapsed just two weeks before its scheduled Dec. 6 start in Atlanta, after its sponsor, the Federal Highway Administration, abruptly canceled its participation.

Federal Express and its unionized pilots restarted stalled contract negotiations after the pilots promised not to strike during the peak holiday shipping season.

Truck drivers, most of whom are paid by the mile, spend as much as 40 hours a week waiting and loading and unloading trailers.