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U.S. employers added 96,000 jobs in August, and the unemployment rate fell to 8.1%, from 8.3% a month earlier, the Labor Department said Friday.

The 2012 Transport Topics Top 100 listings of the largest U.S. and Canadian for-hire and private trucking fleets are now available online.

During their recent presidential nominating conventions, Republicans and Democrats both took credit in their official party platforms for the two-year transportation reauthorization bill passed by Congress and signed by President Obama in July.

The political bickering that has engulfed much of the federal government over the past months and months is apparently weighing heavily on the nation’s economy.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance, that country’s national trucking group, along with the provincial trucking associations, celebrated Canada’s National Trucking Week this year on Sept. 2-8. The weeklong observance honored the 400,000 Canadian men and women who keep the country’s freight moving.

The Aug. 6 issue of Transport Topics had an article headlined “Heat Wave Causing More Tire Failures, Adds Strain on Drivers, Fleet Execs Say” (p. 6). If there ever was a reason to maintain proper air pressure in tires, whether they are retreads or virgin tires — because there is no difference — it is hot weather.

A new report has raised questions about whether a Department of Defense contract to outsource freight shipments has produced huge savings claimed by Menlo Worldwide Logistics, in large part because of DOD’s failure to scrutinize the program closely.

Efforts to create a motor carrier-based pool to provide intermodal chassis are continuing, though American Trucking Associations’ Intermodal Motor Carriers Conference said it has not yet decided how to accomplish that goal.

The ongoing pilot program that allows approved Mexican fleets into the interior of the United States suffers from lax oversight that does not sufficiently ensure compliance with the program’s requirements, a federal auditor said in a report released last week.

Margo Oge, a key player in the federal government’s push to decrease vehicle emissions and increase fuel efficiency, said she will retire at the end of this month.