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The July 12 issue of Transport Topics reported on the recently passed resolution of the Western Governors’ Association that calls on Congress to allow for longer combination vehicle pilot programs: “Western Governors Back New Pilot Programs to Study Effects of Longer Trailer Combinations.”

The 2010 edition of the Transport Topics Top 100 For-Hire Carriers shows us just how bad 2009 was for the motor carrier industry, but it also illustrates the recovery that took hold in the first half of this year.

Seven of the eight publicly traded motor carriers that reported second-quarter earnings last week reinforced the trend of improved financial results driven by tight capacity, along with modest rate, volume and utilization improvements.

For more than 15 years, Just Born Inc., the Pennsylvania candy maker of Peeps and of Mike and Ike, transported newly made confections from its Bethlehem plant to two warehouses 75 miles away.

UPS Inc. “fired on all cylinders” in the second quarter, boosting profits and firming rates, despite spottiness in the global economic recovery, Chief Executive Officer Scott Davis said July 22.

Navistar Inc. attacked competitors’ 2010 engines on two fronts last week, telling environmental regulators that pollution controls on engines using selective catalytic reduction could be easily defeated and telling fleet managers that every gallon of diesel fuel an SCR engine saves will cost at least that much in diesel exhaust fluid consumed.

Truckers in New Jersey using two-way radios are now exempted from the state’s ban on driving while using handheld communication devices.

Shippers said potential cuts in driving time and total work hours sought by the opponents of the current hours-of-service rule could force costly changes in the supply chain and further tighten capacity.

Truckload carrier Swift Transportation could be returning to the ranks of the publicly traded trucking companies, according to a registration statement filed last week, a move that could allow the sale of as much as $700 million in stock.

Two more of the world’s five largest shipping companies announced plans to gradually pull out of the U.S. chassis supply business just as new federal chassis safety rules are being implemented.