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Idling trucks eat up an average annual profit of $1,800 a unit, according to the Department of Energy, much of which is spent heating and cooling the cab and keeping the engine warm.

Motor carriers and shippers, frequently at odds over the issue of freight classification, have agreed to work together to determine how to classify shipments of poisonous materials.

Rising distillate inventories brought a 1-cent drop in the price of diesel fuel last week, although falling stocks of crude oil and a strike that has halted Norway’s North Sea oil exports seemed to threaten another jump in price.

In the news this morning: European study finds biodiesel not as clean as regular diesel; Canadian driver wants his rig back after being cleared in fatal crash; and Sources say Maritime Administrator Clyde Hart is new trucking safety chief.

New York’s ton-mile tax will not go away this legislative session, but truckers will see a $10 million a year drop due to a half-cent cut in the tax.

Montana started up a computer system May 1 that will track data on overweight trucks so that state inspectors can better target their enforcement efforts.

The Intermodal Association of North America is trying to find consensus among frequently warring interests on issues as diverse as hours of service for drivers and the roadworthiness of intermodal equipment.

Regulators, researchers and interest groups will hash out federal truck size and weight issues at a workshop that runs from May 10 to 11 in Irvine, Calif.

In the news this morning: Bitter Overnite strikes poses a test for Teamsters' chief; Restrictions on trucks carrying hazardous cargo not being enforced in Columbus, Ohio; and Mack Trucks chief expects layoffs at South Carolina plant.