���ϳԹ���

Trucking companies are part of a ground swell of public sentiment seeking repeal of the estate tax,which kicks in when family-held businesses or property are transferred from one generation to another, and Congress is taking note.

Owners of trucks that have only an old ICC identification number will have to start painting their carriers’ DOT number on the doors.

The battle for control of Simon Transportation Services escalated during the week of June 5, with the Simon and Moyes families dueling for control of the truckload, refrigerated carrier.

The Teamsters’ 2-month-old strike of Associated Wholesale Grocers ended June 4 with the ratification of an eight-year contract between the company and three locals in Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

Hazardous materials placards may be placed at a level below the trailer’s floor and behind the rear underride guard as long as they are not obscured, according to a June 2 decision by the Department of Transportation’s Research and Special Programs Administration.

Gov. George E. Pataki ordered the price of diesel fuel and gasoline sold on the New York Thruway to be cut by a nickel for the summer driving season.

The price of diesel fuel dropped 1.2 cents this week, amid predictions that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will increase production by another 500,000 barrels a day.

The flip side of an old adage often heard on the streets of Washington must be, “If it is broken, fix it.” So, when it comes to the current system of issuing and monitoring commercial driver licenses, we need the Maytag repair guy, and now.

On the Friday morning before Memorial Day weekend, a North Carolina truck driver hauling frozen chickens to Annapolis, Md., ran his truck off the Capital Beltway [Interstate 495]. Not surprisingly, the driver distanced himself from the cause of the crash, asserting that he “wanted to stop and pull over in Virginia, but couldn’t.”

Technology-savvy trucking companies are experienced at gathering all kinds of data — from fuel mileage to idle time to tire pressure — often with the aid of on-board computers and wireless communications. But what to do with those mounds of information once they are accumulated?