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Consumer confidence fell this month to its lowest level since April 2009, the New York-based Conference Board reported.

WASHINGTON — The head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration told trucking industry leaders Tuesday the agency was within its rights to ban texting by commercial drivers through a reinterpretation of existing rules, but that more explicit bans were on the way.

Tank trucks filled with gasoline could be the favored surface transportation weapon for terrorists seeking to attack U.S. targets, according to a new study of potential terrorist uses of highway-borne hazardous materials.

A group including motor carriers, businesses, several members of Congress and a conservative public interest legal foundation has filed a lawsuit in federal appeals court challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s finding that greenhouse gas emissions are a danger to public health.

A year into the Obama administration, American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves said the trucking industry’s challenges are primarily regulatory, rather than legislative, because of the gridlock that has enveloped Congress since last year.

The Environmental Protection Agency has not yet said how it intends to require heavy trucks to curb greenhouse gas emissions, but a report on the agency’s Web site projects that an advanced notice of rulemaking could be posted as early as June.

The Department of Transportation will issue $1.5 billion for 51 projects across the country as the final piece of the Obama administration’s stimulus program, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Feb. 17.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has unveiled sample legislation designed to help states write bans against texting while driving.

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. said Tuesday it will expand its network of liquefied natural gas stations in southern California in large cities and along major truck routes, with a goal to expand into the Southwest.