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The drive to create a separate federal agency specializing in the issues and interests of trucking moved into high gear last week, dramatically improving the chances that such a unit will be in operation before too much more time passes.

The government has an opportunity to seize the moment and advance safety even further by reforming the archaic hours-of-service rules in a science-based fashion. It will be sad, indeed, for the trucking industry, as well as for the motoring public, to end up with rules that advance the political interests of a few while jeopardizing the many.

The new president of Navistar International’s Truck Group would like to change the truck-buying culture by reducing — or even eliminating — the customization that is an accepted part of the purchasing and manufacturing markets.

J. Steven Keate’s plan to reduce customization in Navistar International’s Truck Group generated a mixed reaction among the other truck manufacturers.

Fighting against economic re-regulation and for approval of the sale of Conrail, railroads far outspent trucking on lobbying in 1998, according to a report by the Center for Responsive Politics.

Integrating less-than-truckload, truckload, logistics and freight forwarding services into one company is incredibly difficult. But one company has done it successfully: USFreightways Corp.

In the news this morning: USF Distribution buys Special Dispatch; Firm reaches plea deal about illegal shipments; and Nissan Diesel America announces personnel changes.

Gov. George Ryan signed laws that force Chicago-area trucks to undergo annual emissions tests and give trucks greater leeway on portable scales.

An Amtrak train en route to Chicago from the West Coast was delayed several hours Tuesday by a collision with a truck on Milwaukee's west side.

Integrating less-than-truckload, truckload, logistics and freight forwarding services into one company is incredibly difficult. But one company has done it successfully: USFreightways Corp.