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American Trucking Associations last week announced the selection of 18 truck drivers to be captains of the 2011-2012 America’s Road Team.

Truck manufacturers and their dealers sold 11,742 Class 8 trucks in the United States during December, the highest monthly total since December 2008, Wardsauto.com reported.

Spot shortages of intermodal chassis are surfacing and uncertainty is building about the future chassis supply as truckers take more responsibility for the equipment that traditionally came from ocean carriers, industry officials said.

American Trucking Associations began its pushback against the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s proposed hours-of-service rule last week by questioning the agency’s analysis and asking Congress to lobby on the industry’s behalf. 

North American rail freight volumes, led by intermodal, climbed out of the recession at a brisk pace in 2010, posting an  11% year-over-year growth rate that was the fastest pace in at least 50 years.

The Mexican government, after the U.S. announced it would moving forward with talks to reopen its southern border to truck traffic,  said last week it was suspending the practice of rotating goods subject to punitive tariffs.

The global low-cost truck market will make less-expensive vehicles available in North America, which has seen prices rising steadily for more than a decade, said a new report from consulting firm Frost & Sullivan.

David Barefoot, American Trucking Associations senior vice president and chief operating officer, has retired after 12 years of service to the federation.

The average price of a gallon of U.S. retail diesel rose by 0.2 cent last week to $3.333, the Department of Energy reported, while the regular gasoline price average climbed 1.9 cents to $3.089.

Transport Topics Online will be closed Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. Please check back on Tuesday, Jan. 18, for the latest trucking and freight transportation news.