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Two Republican congressmen have introduced legislation they said would expedite propane deliveries during the current shortage by providing hours-of-service flexibility to truckers hauling the gas.

Trucking and other industries that rely on highways to move goods pressed Congress again Feb. 26 to pass a fully funded, long-term surface transportation bill to improve the nation’s highways.

WASHINGTON — The Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee will begin markup of a multiyear highway-funding plan in April, and the legislation probably will not include increases in fuel tax rates, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), EPW’s chairman, told a group of state transportation officials.

Colorado could become the 40th state to pass legislation protecting truckers against having to assume full liability for accidents, regardless of who is at fault.

Idaho’s Supreme Court unanimously reversed a previous ruling that had said that a truck owner-operator cannot be considered an independent contractor without having his own authority from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

This Editorial appears in the Feb. 24 print edition of Transport Topics.

A Government Accountability Office study critical of the way the government identifies crash-prone carriers is the result of a “philosophical disagreement” between regulators and GAO investigators, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration officials said.