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Labor Secretary-nominee Elaine Chao, in her confirmation hearing Wednesday before a Senate committee, reportedly declined to commit herself to the broad-ranging and controversial workplace safety or ergonomics standards issued by the outgoing Clinton administration.

The wave of mergers sweeping through trucking came to the industry’s leasing sector Jan. 15, when No. 2 Penske Truck Leasing announced it will buy No. 3 Rollins Truck Leasing in a $2 billion deal that threatens Ryder System’s position as the nation’s largest full-service leasing company.

The national average price of diesel fuel fell by 1.1 cents a gallon last week to stand at $1.509 a gallon on Jan. 15, the lowest point since late August and the sixth price drop in the past seven weeks reported by the Energy Information Administration.

Crossing the Hudson River into New York City will take as much as a 75% bigger bite from truckers’ wallets if the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s proposed toll increase goes through.

Air has always been an important factor in maintaining a heavy-duty, over-the-road truck.

If Charles Dickens were writing about U.S. Class 8 truck sales in 2000, he might have said: “It was almost the best of years; it was the worst of years.”

George W. Bush may have won the 2000 election, but organized labor made its voice heard, securing victories for Vice President Al Gore in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Washington, providing the margin of victory for labor-backed senatorial candidates in at least four states and beating back anti-union referendums in Oregon and Colorado.

Recognizing that information management is a key component of moving freight, the American Trucking Associations Maintenance Council will reorganize to promote integration of advanced communications and logistics technology into the computer systems on a standard truck.

An online logistics provider is jumping into a market that has thus far failed to produce any clear winners.

Yellow Corp. will consolidate its regional carriers — distilling them from four into two — to improve service for shippers, generate more profits for shareholders and perhaps attract the attention of investors eager to purchase a large less-than-truckload carrier.