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Ken Eggen at Tango Transport in Shreveport, La., knows that one size doesn’t fit all. That is why he has separate preventative maintenance checklists for each of the three engine models his fleet runs. He goes a step further and sits down with his shop managers quarterly to pick through those checklists and make adjustments.

Are third-party logistics providers a necessary division in the trucking industry? My opinion is “yes.” We are a group of people who work hard to keep customers and drivers happy, at an agreeable rate.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has proposed “fixing” the underperforming revenue aspects of its Unified Carrier Registration agreement by shifting more of the financial burden to the nation’s law-abiding trucking fleets.

Registration fees that trucking companies and freight brokers must pay will more than double to as much as $83,000 in 2010 under a plan put forward by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration last week.

Some key manufacturing indicators showed gains last week, a sign the economy is shifting from recession to expansion, several economists said. However, they warned that the turnaround is uneven, which makes business statistics confusing and trends difficult to track clearly.

Eighty-two maintenance technicians will compete for national industry honors, while fleet managers grapple with clean-vehicle technology options and universal equipment warranties at SuperTech and the fall meeting of the Technology & Maintenance Council.

Fleets shouldn’t expect a pickup in freight business anytime soon, because wary consumers remain reluctant to spend and shippers continue to stock less inventory, fleet executives and industry experts said.

After a grim season of second-quarter truckload earnings reports, robust August postings on a key freight load board hint the month just ended might be a turning point for the truckload sector.

Advocacy groups led by Public Citizen, once again taking the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to court over its driver hours-of-service regulation, said increasing allowed driving time and allowing a reset of weekly hours have led to more fatalities caused by fatigued driving.