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In the news this morning: N.J. Gov. Whitman signs bill setting fines fortruck ban violations; Proposed Calif. rule on diesel engines fuels debate; and Texas Trucking Assoc. to offer safety seminars.

Frozen Food Express Industries is restructuring its operations, eliminating about 150 non-driver employee positions and reducing the size of its trailer fleet by more than 20%.

Trucking labor historians will look back on 1999 and note that it was the year a second Hoffa took over the helm at the Teamsters union and frustrations with port operations on both coasts came to a head.

Trucking companies in Illinois can expect beefed-up enforcement of a state law that distinguishes, for unemployment insurance purposes, employees from independent contractors.

This afternoon's headlines: Marten Transport sees higher fourth quarter net; U.S. trucking execs eye merger with Professional Transportation Group; and Trucker Buddy weighs its future.

Reform of the 65-year-old rules governing how long interstate truckers can drive has been debated for years but it wasn’t until 1999 that there was significant movement on the issue.

In the news this morning: Hoffa leads rally to revive Overnite strike; Thief with reefer swipes shipment of burger patties; and Iowa truck driver loses appeal for workers compensation.

TTNews.com will be closed Monday, Jan. 16, for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. Please check back on Tuesday, Jan. 17, for the latest trucking and freight transportation news.

On the heels of increases by dry van and truckload lines, carriers that haul refrigerated cargo are planning to raise freight rates by as much as 10% this year.

Truck manufacturers are reducing production and cutting their payrolls, even before final sales figures are in for 1999, the biggest year in history for the sale of Class 8 trucks.