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Members of the Safety Management Council of American Trucking Associations are facing some disturbing news: some of their colleagues are being forced to leave the council because their employers have decided not to become ATA members.

A representative of American Trucking Associations made another pitch to members of The Maintenance Council to formally affiliate with the agency, as required under ATA’s new strategic plan.

The National Transportation Safety Board is holding a public hearing on highway safety issues raised by the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The trucking industry breathed a collective sigh of relief as the diesel fuel price fell this week for the first time in 18 weeks. But some analysts say further drops are unlikely.

The Research and Special Programs Administration struck down a state fee that costs hazardous waste haulers doing business in Tennessee more than $170,000 a year.

Freightliner Corp. is the “800-pound gorilla” of trucking in the United States — and its president, James Hebe, seems to relish the role.

Chris Licht, director of safety and training for Anderson Trucking Service in St. Cloud, Minn., is American Trucking Associations’ 1998 Safety Director of the Year.

After a three-month search, United Road Services named Gerald R. Riordan, the former head of Ryder System’s consumer truck rental business, to be its new chief executive officer.

It was a momentous week for trucking. The National Motor Carrier Administration is on the brink of being a reality, thanks to overwhelming support of the House of Representatives. The House passed the enabling bill by a 415-5 vote Oct. 14.

I’ll never forget the first time I met William S. Odlin Jr., longtime editor of Transport Topics, who died Oct. 5 of cancer. He cast a giant shadow during his 26 years on the paper, not only with his towering physical statue, but with his eminent character of spirit — which, when it touched your heart, indelibly stamped a legacy of imperishable memories to cherish for a lifetime.