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This is in regard to your April 18 issue, which includes an article about the Transportation Intermediaries Association, American Trucking Associations and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association all supporting a broker surety bill.

Shippers enjoying increases in manufacturing and production are being urged to start worrying about two federal regulations that could hinder their ability to move goods with trucks and could place them at risk in civil litigation.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration last week placed four new driver fatigue studies into its hours-of-service docket and said the studies probably would cause the agency to miss a court-imposed July 26 deadline for posting its final hours rule.

Investigators with the Government Accountability Office said they were able to gain unescorted access to several U.S. ports using fake biometric Transportation Worker Identification Credential cards.

Express-1 Expedited Solutions said its first-quarter profit climbed 34% to $1.1 million, or 3 cents per share, from $834,000, or 3 cents, a year ago.

Nearly two years after Maersk Line, the world’s largest ocean carrier, shook up the system for delivering freight containers from U.S. ports by requiring drayage truckers for the first time to pay rental fees for chassis, three trade groups are trying to foster an orderly transition to a new intermodal reality.

The Obama administration last week officially distanced itself from any talk of instituting a national tax based on the number of miles vehicles travel, saying it is not considering such a levy on American drivers.

The news from the Obama White House that it has no intention of pursuing a new tax regime based on the number of miles vehicles travel is most welcome for the trucking industry.

The average price for a gallon of U.S. retail diesel declined last week for only the third time this year, dipping 2 cents to $4.104, the Department of Energy reported.

Heavy-duty U.S. truck sales leaped 41.1% in April, compared with the same month in 2010, marking the 16th straight month of expansion, and outpacing the in-dustry’s 35.9% growth for the first four months of this year.