ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø

Frustrated truckers in the Northeast parked their rigs, organized protests at two state capitals and halted activity at one of the nation’s busiest seaports as the price of diesel fuel continued to soar throughout the region.

When bugs go splat into a windshield rather than follow the air flow up and over a tractor-trailer, it may be proof of a costly lack of aerodynamics and an even costlier loss of fuel efficiency, especially in this period of high diesel prices.

One of trucking’s best-known and most articulate advocates is heading down the road.

Electronic commerce remains a hot topic in transportation despite the lukewarm reaction some of Internet’s biggest deliverers have received from Wall Street in the wake of the holiday rush.

A $130,000 annual tax bill was eating into Daniel Tri’s profits, so he decided to sell a third of his Star Fuel Centers property to a developer.

Natso Inc., a trade organization of truck stop owners, has taken sides with the trucking industry in opposing a reduction in driving hours for big rig drivers, but not all of the association’s members agree.

Teamsters and Overnite Transportation representatives last week walked away from their first bargaining sessions in almost five months with no agreements, but both sides said they would meet again on March 7.

The federal government fleshed out its rhetoric on highway safety Feb. 7, when it announced it was seeking a 54% increase in funding for fiscal 2001 — to $279 million from $181 million this year — for its newly formed motor carrier safety agency.

The Clinton administration proposes to spend a record $29.3 billion on roads and bridges in fiscal 2001, but the federal-aid program still faces diversions of tax revenue, and that drew some complaints.

Two United Parcel Service customers are suing the package delivery giant, claiming that they were charged too much to insure their packages.