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March 14, 2000 9:10 AM, EST

A federal agency charged with collecting financial and operating statistics from trucking firms has denied requests from 24 carriers that the data not be released to the public.

The March 3 pronouncement by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics may finally pry open the books of some of the industry’s most secretive privately owned carriers.

In the case of Schneider National, the nation’s largest truckload carrier, BTS granted confidentiality for some line items, such as communications and utilities, denied it for other items, such as fuel and maintenance expenses, and requested more information on other items.

Schneider had argued that the disclosure of any information from Annual Report Form M would cause competitive harm by giving other companies insight into Schneider’s methods and innovations without incurring the same risks and costs.

For the full story, see the Mar. 13 print edition of Transport Topics. .