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The U.S. economy continued to decline from the end of February through the beginning of April, affecting transportation industry services and demand, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.

Conga lines of idle trucks waiting to clear U.S. customs are daily a fact for trade traffic at America’s major border-crossing points, north and south.

Most Transport Topics readers have experienced the current downturn firsthand — dwindling freight demand, fluctuating fuel prices, clean-engine mandates and downward-spiraling leading indicators.

President Obama will nominate John Porcari, Maryland Transportation Secretary as deputy secretary of the Department of Transportation, the No. 2 DOT job, the White House said.

Sterling Truck Corp. officially ended its 11-year life span last month when the last Class 8 rolled off the St. Thomas, Ontario, assembly line, part of a final order for ABF Freight System Inc.

President Obama last week nominated Victor Mendez, former head of the Arizona Department of Transportation, to lead the Federal Highway Administration and Charles Hurley, a longtime safety advocate, to run the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The Transportation Security Administration said it will not delay the April 15 deadline for an estimated 1.2 million workers to obtain their Transportation Worker Identification Credentials, but the U.S. Coast Guard will allow entry at some ports through mid-May to workers who present proof they have passed a security screening but have not yet received their credential cards from TSA.

A new study linking obesity and obstructive sleep apnea found that truck drivers are so resistant to testing and treatment that the federal government should mandate screening because the disorder plays a larger role in accidents than officially reported.

The U.S.-Mexico trucking dispute continued to grow as more legal action was taken on both sides of the border and a coalition of interest groups stepped up pressure on the Obama administration to find a resolution.