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Santa Claus may be famous for Christmas deliveries, but on July 8 FedEx Corp., United Parcel Service and Yellow Freight System usurped his ho-ho-ho all the way to bookstores, warehouses and homes of the United States, delivering the latest Harry Potter book.

The radar guns are out in full force in Milwaukee these days and lead-footed truckers who find themselves on the wrong side of a speeding ticket have an alliance of state officials, law enforcement and industry leaders to thank.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission relaxed the rules that determine which hazardous materials may be trucked through the four mountain tunnels on its toll road.

Trimac Corp. has initiated a restructuring plan that will shift C$378 million worth of its assets to place the company in a position to increase its market share of the bulk trucking business. The Calgary, Alberta-based company started its maneuvering two week ago by selling its Rentway subsidiary to Penske Truck Leasing.

Congress was poised last week to act on legislation that would help owners of family-owned trucking companies pass the fruits of a lifetime’s work on to their children without Uncle Sam taking a giant bite.

In his June 5 opinion piece, Clyde J. Hart Jr., the acting deputy administrator for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, tried to explain “what’s the deal” with the hours-of-service proposal. The federal government is proposing a rule that would ensure drivers of large trucks and buses the opportunity to get adequate rest. It sounds great in theory, but let’s look at the big picture and leave politics out of it for the moment.

Truck maintenance shops used to call to mind images of dreary, poorly-lit places where sparks from welding torches cascade to the floor near unlabeled containers of liquids.

The stage is being set for a congressional a debate on the subject of bigger and heavier trucks, perhaps as soon as next year.

Trucking companies that don’t watch who they do business with internationally could be setting themselves up for civil or criminal penalties under a new federal law that took effect in December.