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Global positioning systems will be 10 times more precise now that the Clinton administration has decided to unscramble satellite signals that had been reserved for military applications.

The Teamsters and Overnite Transportation exchanged blows through press releases that detailed violations of court orders in Minnesota related to the union's ongoing strike against the less-than-truckload carrier.

The government’s hours-of-service proposal is designed to prevent 2,600 truck-related crashes and 115 fatalities a year, but critics say it does not weigh the safety effects of putting more trucks on the road to compensate for the longer rest periods.

In the news this morning: U.S., Canada diverge on hours of service rules; Iveco looks to expand its presence in the international truck market; and rising estimates, construction delays may eventually force heavy trucks off Interstate 95 bridge near Washington, D.C.

This afternoon's headlines: Surprise safety inspections by Nebraska State Police vet 490 violations; South American burglars suspected in recent high-tech cargo thefts in California; and China trade vote praised by business, but organized labor issues warning to candidates.

Most sulfur in diesel fuel would be eliminated under an Environmental Protection Agency proposed rule designed to improve national air quality, but reaching these goals promises to spark major price increases at the pump.

The Department of Transportation is sticking to its self-imposed deadline of completing an update to the federal hours-of-service regulations for truck drivers by year’s end.

Computers have taken truck communications into the digital age, as every turn of the wheels and firing of the pistons can be recorded and transmitted to a carrier’s headquarters or a customer’s loading docks. The issue now is how best to capitalize on that data stream.

The relationship between the parts distribution systems of the original equipment manufacturers and the online parts exchanges that are starting to populate the World Wide Web is like that of an elephant to a mouse: The mouse is quick and can fit into small places, while the elephant is big and powerful but in some ways fears the mouse.

Trucking is starting to pay the price for the go-go economy of the last five years, the head of Volvo Trucks North America said in a May 16 speech.