������ý

The new 70-mile-per-hour speed limit on the Ohio Turnpike, which the state’s trucking industry opposes, has taken effect, the Associated Press reported.

Volvo Trucks North America and the United Auto Workers said they reached a tentative agreement on a new five-year contract for workers at the heavy-duty New River Valley plant near Dublin, Va.

Telematics and mobile communications provider Xata Corp., Eden Prairie, Minn., now resells trailer-tracking systems made by SkyBitz, the companies announced March 9.

Purchasers of Qualcomm Inc.’s OmniTracs system in Washington state dodged a tax hit following a March 10 decision about the legal classification of that system by the Washington Supreme Court.

Several truck makers and industry suppliers said their facilities sustained some damage from the March 11 earthquake in Japan, but they were not expecting it to result in significant supply disruptions to North America.

American Trucking Associations has petitioned federal regulators to issue a new rule to clarify that hazardous material packages should normally be inspected at the point of loading or unloading, and not during roadside inspections.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said a new federal rule will expand the enforcement authority of federal regulators to conduct “enhanced inspections” and investigations of packaged hazardous materials.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Transportation Security Administration have conducted several dozen overlapping fleet inspections, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report about wasteful and duplicative federal programs.

An impending Department of Transportation rule will expand enforcement authority of federal regulators to conduct “enhanced inspections” and investigations of packaged hazardous materials.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has cast a spotlight on the current federal standard for truck underride guards, which it says is woefully inadequate.