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The future may seem spooky for trucking executives who heard tales of uncertain political leadership, a possible recession and stricter demands from shippers at the American Trucking Associations Foundation’s three-day annual meeting.

The latest round in the congressional debate over truck size and weight formally opened with the introduction of legislation May 4 that would allow states to increase the maximum truck weight to 97,000 pounds.

After repeatedly being rebuffed in attempts to take over rival Swedish truck maker Scania AB, Volvo tried a different approach last week, proposing to work with its competitor.

While calling for improved safety, the National Private Truck Council joined the current swell of support for a federal agency to concentrate solely on supervising truck safety.

Ocean shipping – the last of the great governmentally controlled modes of transportation –took a mighty hit from the deregulation ax.

The Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency brushed aside claims that the six primary U.S. diesel engine makers did not knowingly violate federal air quality rules, and urged a judge to ratify the agreement, which will cost the manufacturers more than $1 billion in fines and added costs.

A Department of Defense plan to pay freight bills through a third-party electronic payment system is caught in a whirlpool of praise and criticism.

Trucker Buddy Inc., the organization that was founded in 1993 to set up pen-pal relationships between professional truck drivers and children, has fired its president and management firm.

A complete structural makeover was approved for the National Private Truck Council at its annual convention, which attracted about 1,200 private fleet operators and suppliers.