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Let me understand you correctly: If a driver runs out of time 30 minutes from the yard and is on an electronic onboard recorder, “He either spends the night 20 miles from home or, more likely, breaks the law and comes to the yard anyway.”

Transportation companies with independent contractor relationships should brace themselves for potential misclassification challenges from multiple fronts. Given the budget crises facing many states and the federal government, the interests of legislators, government agencies and unions have aligned, resulting in a coordinated effort to discourage the use of independent contractors — or to reclassify them as employees.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration officials said they already are working on some of the more than two dozen rulemaking mandates contained in the new transportation reauthorization law signed in July.

Virginia officials submitted an application late last month to the federal government seeking formal permission to toll Interstate 95, while the trucking industry and other opponents continued to push back against it.

Although natural gas has taken some of the limelight away from hybrid drivetrains for trucks, Tier One component supplier Eaton Corp. said it is still committed to electric and hydraulic hybrids, and announced a research plan to reduce the size of hybrid batteries by up to 50%.

Officials of less-than-truckload carrier ABF Freight System said they have notified the Teamsters union they want to negotiate directly on a new labor contract next year and not as part of an industry group.

The price of the service call to replace a blown truck tire on the road can run about $500, industry experts and fleet managers said, adding that the total costs can be much higher.

Orders for new trailers rose a slight 0.2% in July from a year earlier to 13,339, ACT Research reported.

The average cost of a gallon of retail diesel fuel in the United States rose 6.3 cents to $4.089 last week, the Department of Energy reported, but truckers received some positive news as Hurricane Isaac appeared to have spared oil and fuel facilities in the Gulf.

Shippers and truckers are urging officials of the International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance to restart contract discussions so that the just-beginning fall freight shipping season won’t be disrupted.