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By all accounts, Congress’ decision to prevent the Department of Transportation from issuing a final hours-of-service rule represents a major victory for the American Trucking Associations.

As director of safety for Central Freight Lines in Waco, Texas, Gary D. Thomas spends much of his time training rookie drivers. But among his more experienced drivers he noticed what appeared to be a contradiction — an increase, rather than reduction, in the number of accidents after about five years on the job.

President Clinton’s plan to pump oil from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve took the steam out of the fuel price express last week.

Low distillate inventories, which have worried oil market analysts all summer, continue to be a concern as the winter season approaches.

Dramatic trucker protests over fuel costs continued on three continents last week, as Europe considered tapping its own large oil reserves to help force prices down after President Clinton ordered a release from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

For the second time in his nearly half a century of trucking, Bill Whim, who has covered 5 million miles without an accident, is American Trucking Associations’ National Driver of the Year.

The Safety Management Council will debate integrating the responsibility for cargo claims and cargo security issues into its safety mandate during SMC’s annual meeting, continuing through Oct. 4 in St. Louis.

Federal and state investigators say a Georgia third-party tester sold over 500 CDLs to unqualified applicants during the past two years.

Executives from trucking companies large and small offered detailed accounts to federal officials of the costs their companies would incur if the hours of service regulations proposed by the Department of Transportation took effect.