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NEW ORLEANS — American Trucking Associations leaders endorsed a sweeping, 18-point plan to improve highway safety for everyone — passenger cars, as well as trucks — as part of the federation’s strategy for next year’s highway legislation.

American Trucking Associations said its board of directors has voted to expand ATA’s safety agenda with the goal of further reducing the number of highway-related fatalities.

Tony Sifford, 41, an America’s Road Team captain since 2007, died Sept. 24 near Ruston, La., from injuries sustained in a highway accident that day.

As we gather in New Orleans for our 2008 Management Conference & Exhibition, it’s hard not to think back to the images of the “Crescent City” in 2005 following Hurricane Katrina. In a matter of hours, New Orleans went from a vibrant tourism destination to a city devastated by flooding.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration sent regulations aimed at strengthening oversight of new trucking companies and of intermodal chassis equipment to the White House for review, putting the regulations on pace to be published before the end of the year.

Do you see anything in “The Bailout Plan” that indicates whether there will be fines and prosecutions for board members, chief executive officers (i.e., the big guys who walk away with millions of dollars per year in bonuses and the people who worked the deals) and the oversight committees who monitor our financial markets?

Freight demand for U.S. trucking companies is likely to decline as credit stays tight, a Wachovia Corp. economist said at American Trucking Associations’ annual meeting in New Orleans, Bloomberg reported.

New legislation to boost U.S. infrastructure — roads, highways and bridges — will be American Trucking Associations’ top priority in the coming year,  the Associated Press reported.