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The Maryland Transportation Authority has approved increased truck tolls its seven toll facilities, the Associated Press reported.

Class 8 trucks rolled up 139.3 billion miles in 2006, up from 130.5 billion in 2005, according to American Trucking Associations’ American Trucking Trends 2008-2009 report, released this week.

Truck and engine maker Navistar Inc. said it will take a “leadership role” in trying to convince Congress and the new administration to delay full implementation of 2010 heavy-duty truck engine emission mandates.

WASHINGTON — Congress may link any change in truck size- and-weight limits in upcoming highway legislation to a new commercial vehicle-miles-traveled tax, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), chairman of the House Highway and Transit Subcommittee, said last week.

The Clackamas County, Ore., sheriff’s office is using high-tech cameras to catch truck drivers who don’t buckle up, the Oregonian newspaper reported Tuesday.

Cummins Inc., the maker of more than one third of North America’s heavy-duty truck engines, plans to invest another $100 million in Brazil during the next four years to meet higher demand in that country, Bloomberg reported.

A federal judge last week denied American Trucking Associations’ request for a preliminary injunction against controversial portions of emission-reduction programs at the California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Astronomic fuel prices are only part of the economic drag on trucking these days. Add the growing length of time on accounts receivables, more customer bankruptcies and the tightening of credit by suppliers and lenders, and it’s easy to see how carriers’ cash flow has ebbed.

Trucking-related highway fatalities fell again last year, to their lowest level in 15 years, according to data from the Department of Transportation.

A federal judge tentatively denied American Trucking Associations’ request for an injunction that would delay the start of concessionaire programs for drayage drivers at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.