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The annual National Truck Driver Association Week began Sunday and will run through Saturday, American Trucking Associations said.

Dennis Shirar, a driver with Indianapolis-based Heritage Transport who has driven 3 million accident-free miles, was named the 2008 National Truck Driving Grand Champion, American Trucking Associations said.

Freight carriers are preparing for a relatively weak peak shipping season this year as major retailers react to sluggish economic growth by cutting back on imports and reducing the volume of goods that typically move by truck and rail during what is usually the busiest shipping period in the third and fourth quarters.

Growth in the nation’s fleet of Class 8 trucks ground to a halt during the second quarter, as U.S. registrations for vehicles in operation rose by just 0.75%, according to R.L. Polk & Co.

Whether the product is laundry detergent or basketballs or almost anything else, changing the way things are packaged to make the most out of a trailer’s space is introducing a little-noticed structural change to the trucking industry.

Two national truckload carriers have signed letters of intent to participate in the port of Los Angeles’ Clean Trucks Plan, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

American Trucking Associations Wednesday called on Congress to help the trucking industry to improve highway safety by supporting efforts to enhance drug and alcohol testing for the nation’s 3.4 million truck drivers.

WASHINGTON — American Trucking Associations Chairman Ray Kuntz asked a Senate committee Wednesday to make fundamental changes to federal surface transportation programs in order to allow the trucking industry to move freight more efficiently.

Little wonder that fuel efficiency was a major focus of equipment and service vendors exhibiting at the Mid-America Trucking Show last week.