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Citing the increased use of information technology within the industry, American Trucking Associations has created a new policy committee devoted to the issue. ATA’s board of directors voted June 18 to create a new Technology & Engineering Committee that incorporates the current Technology Advisory Committee and the engineering component of the Safety & Engineering Committee.

More than 250 members of Congress want the Clinton administration again to delay allowing Mexican truckers the unfettered access inside the United States. Lawmakers and labor leaders said Thursday many Mexican trucks remain unsafe and there are not enough inspectors along the U.S.-Mexico border to check all the vehicles carrying goods for the American market.

In a continuation of the yo-yo-like gyrations that many analysts said were over, the national average price of diesel fuel has risen 2.3 cents a gallon over the past two weeks, after dropping 2.4 cents over the previous four weeks.

Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater declared his commitment to working with American Trucking Associations to reduce truck-related fatalities, despite criticism from safety groups. "While some have criticized the department for working in partnership with ATA, I do not apologize for that," Slater said in a June 17 speech to the group’s board of directors.

Jurisdiction over truck and bus safety should remain within the Federal Highway Administration, Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater said. In a June 18 speech to American Trucking Associations board of directors, Slater said the department’s goal of cutting in half the number of truck-related fatalities over the next decade would best be achieved by beefing up existing programs.

During separate forums hosted by the American Trucking Associations, lawmakers offered leaders feedback — and praise — on key industry topics. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) called for a delay on an ergonomics rule, while Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) raised the industry for its role in passing the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st century.

TT File PhotoThe House late Wednesday approved a transportation spending bill for 2000 that authorizes $27.7 billion for highways, a 9% increase over 1999. The measure also puts $105 million into the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program, which funds roadside inspections.

DaimlerChrysler AG is talking with Volvo AB about buying what's left of the Swedish automaker after the sale of its passenger car division to Ford Motor Co. last January, the business daily Dagens Industri reported Wednesday. What's left is a lot: Volvo AB's profitable truck, bus, construction equipment, marine and aeronautical divisions.

The Teamsters union and Anheuser-Busch, which have been locked in an often acrimonious labor dispute since November 1997, have agreed to terms of a five-year contract. The St. Louis based brewery committed in the agreement to keep all eight of its breweries open for the life of the contract.

Three weeks into the division of Conrail between Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads, incompatible computer systems have caused so many problems that United Parcel Service, their biggest intermodal customer, has pulled 50% of its traffic off both railroads and put it back on the highways.