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The pump price of diesel slid to an eight-week low last week, with a national average of $1.066 a gallon, just before the summer travel season began.

Step by step, inch by inch, Congress is moving closer to consensus on how best to improve truck safety. One big step came last week when Rep. Frank Wolf signaled his willingness to consider creating a separate motor carrier administration and expressed his commitment to getting the job done this year.

In politics, it often seems there are no new ideas, only new leaders advocating the same themes, repackaged for a new generation of voters. Remember 1988 and the television commercials showing toxic waste pouring into Boston Harbor? As the 2000 election season heats up, expect to see commercials talking about the horrors of suburban sprawl and smog.

Keeping in step with their parent organizations, several foundations affiliated with trucking trade groups are changing their emphasis.

Automobile haulers are hoping to have better luck next time getting an increase in weight allowances for their equipment on the highways.

The nation’s road builders want to play a part in an environmental lawsuit that could cause highways to go without repairs.

Fatalities from crashes involving large trucks dropped 1.8% from 5,398 in 1997 to an estimated 5,302 in 1998, Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater announced at a May 25 press conference.

Former congressman Norman Mineta recommends keeping motor carrier safety oversight within the Federal Highway Administration and giving it more resources, including additional senior staff.

Rep. Frank Wolf is forcing a showdown over federal motor carrier safety programs by moving to cut off all funding for truck safety projects unless the Department of Transportation quickly agrees to shift them out of the Federal Highway Administration.

Truck drivers will get back to the 80% tax deduction for meals more quickly if legislation introduced in Congress May 19 becomes law.