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WASHINGTON — Concerns over the ongoing plight to park trucks safely is prompting a group of national and regional stakeholders to plan ways to improve parking availability, given a new Department of Transportation survey that found dire shortages in metropolitan areas.

The economy grew more than previously estimated in the second quarter on bigger gains in consumer and business spending that show the U.S. expansion got back on track.

Trucking was the only mode that saw a rise in the value of U.S.-Nafta freight carried in June compared with the year earlier, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported Aug. 27.

A group representing key transportation stakeholders has launched a radio ad campaign to press federal lawmakers to advance a long-term highway bill this fall.

Stephen Keppler, executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, is leaving the commercial enforcement group after 15 years to become senior vice president of the Intermodal Association of North America.

Several environmental groups on Aug. 26 called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to prohibit oil and gas firms from dumping hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” chemicals in ways that could prove harmful to the public and communities.

Consumer confidence climbed more than forecast in August, reaching the second-highest level in eight years on more favorable views of the labor market.

In a letter to congressional transportation leaders, American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves said critical claims made by organized labor groups about the use of hair specimens for drug testing of commercial drivers are based on “false notions and outdated science.”

Federal regulators have granted a two-year exemption for some hazardous material drivers to the hours-of-service rule on 30-minute breaks.