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Twelve thousand people from around the world are so devoted to transportation, in all of its many forms, that they are traveling to Washington, D.C., this week to participate in the 96th annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board.

It appears likely the status quo on federal spending will continue through April 28, with the House passing a continuing resolution. If approved by the Senate and signed by President Obama, it keeps familiar budgetary patterns intact until a new Congress and a new president can get to work after Jan. 20.

Daylight hours are dwindling rapidly now, yet this is the time to make hay because, in a sense, the sun is shining on makers of highway and transportation policy.

There’s a lot riding on the U.S. presidential election this week, and it’s not just the choice between Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton that will make a difference for the freight transportation industry.

It looks as if the comments on the speed-limiter proposal for heavy trucks will give the federal government plenty of reading material this winter.

After 10 years of deliberation, two agencies of the Department of Transportation have finally published a proposal that would limit the maximum speed of the largest commercial vehicles to a rate yet to be determined.

By the time you read this, a new grand champion will have been crowned at the National Truck Driving Championships in Indianapolis.

Scott Darling is officially the fifth administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to have been confirmed by the Senate, which did so July 14 by unanimous consent (see story, p. 5).

We bring you in this issue, our annual report on the size, shape and nature of trucking: the Transport Topics Top 100 list of for-hire carriers, our habit since 1989.