ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø

An improving economy could kick-start the pace of mergers and acquisitions in the months ahead, after a moribund 2009, when few deals took place, several transportation analysts said. 

Trucking employment rose slightly during March, the U.S. Labor Department reported, amid growing signs that job growth could accelerate in months ahead as the United States emerges from the recession. 

The federal government last week again rejected Pennsylvania’s request to toll Interstate 80, forcing officials there to revise their long-term infrastructure program.

California environmental regulators can continue enforcing the state’s transportation refrigeration unit retrofit rule, a federal appeals court has ruled.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., are losing discretionary cargo to other West Coast facilities and face increasing competition from East Coast locations, as well as Canada and Mexico, supply chain executives said.

The U.S. National Guard is ramping up its truck driver training program, which could help ease long-term driver shortages. 

The average price of retail diesel across the nation rose 7.6 cents to $3.015 a gallon last week, topping the $3 mark for the first time in 17 months, according to the Department of Energy. 

Orders for new Class 8 trucks in March jumped 21.1% over year-ago levels and surged 35.9% over February’s total as business levels continued to lap 2009’s anemic pace, said FTR Associates.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration last week issued a rule that could require as many as 5,700 trucking fleets to use electronic onboard recorders to monitor drivers’ hours by lowering the threshold for violations that trigger the EOBR mandate.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said last week it is pushing back the start of its new safety monitoring system, CSA 2010, until late this year, to give itself time to respond to criticisms and suggestions, and give fleets time to fix safety deficiencies.