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The huge ash cloud hanging over Europe from last week’s volcano eruption in Iceland is hampering global air freight and causing a shift in European cargo from planes to trucks, news services reported.

The chairman of American Truck Dealers said the trade group will add more attention to medium-duty lines at its annual convention and exposition, scheduled for April 23-26 in Kissimmee, Fla.

The Department of Transportation’s freight transportation services index for February fell 2% from a year earlier but rose from January, DOT said.

The New York State Department of Transportation told a transportation task force that it will no longer pursue efforts to restrict trucks from using certain rural routes in the Finger Lakes area, American Trucking Associations said.

Retail sales rose 1.6% in March, the biggest increase in four months, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

Dan Murray, vice president of research for the American Transportation Research Institute, received the William K. Smith Distinguished Service Award from the University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said last week it is pushing back the start of its new safety monitoring system, CSA 2010, until late this year, to give itself time to respond to criticisms and suggestions, and give fleets time to fix safety deficiencies.

The Department of Transportation has kicked off a pilot program in New York and Connecticut to test whether concentrated law enforcement can make drivers put down their cell phones.

I recently had the opportunity to make an informal survey on in-cab distractions. I have been restoring an old Willys Utility Wagon, and I wanted to see if I could find a couple of leather bucket seats for it. I went to a local junkyard, and they told me to walk around and look in the vehicles and see if I could find a pair that I liked.

Evans Distribution Systems, a third-party logistics operator, is adding new facilities in Lenexa, Kan., Houston and Memphis, Tenn.