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The Department of Transportation will host a two-day summit this week on problems surrounding distracted driving and solutions to combat what has become a national epidemic.

CHICAGO — The economic downturn presents an opportunity for shippers to pare costs and strengthen transportation and distribution operations, industry experts said here at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals’ annual conference.

The Senate has approved legislation that would increase the funding for the Department of Transportation in fiscal 2010 and would allow Maine to raise the truck weight on Interstate 95 as part of a pilot program.

BALTIMORE — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has sent its final electronic onboard recorders rule to the U.S. Department of Transportation for review, acting agency Administrator Rose McMurray told Transport Topics last week.

If manufacturers’ claims about the latest developments in cargo refrigeration units are correct, motor carriers now can haul fresh, frozen or deep-frozen loads for any distance with reefer-fuel savings of as much as 80%, compared with past costs — and with little or no reefer maintenance.

WASHINGTON — Anne Ferro, President Obama’s choice to head the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, had her day before the Senate Commerce Committee last week as its members weighed her confirmation.

The Georgia Department of Transportation has reopened Interstate 20 through several counties that were flooded earlier this week, making the highway impassible, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

YRC Worldwide said Tuesday that it has launched a new Web site combining the services of its three regional transportation units.