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The Mexican government is preparing to change the list of U.S. products that will be subjected to higher tariffs in retaliation for the continued lockout of that nation’s truck fleets, sources told Transport Topics last week.

The shipping industry in the United States has the opportunity in the next 18 months to dramatically improve its efficiency and ability to compete in the global economy.

A proposed federal rule that triples to $3,000 the annual registration fee for large motor carriers who haul hazardous materials but maintains a $300 fee for small carriers places an unfair burden on large carriers, American Trucking Associations said.

Nearly 90 proposals in 24 states and Congress would “undercut” independent contractor classification and subject carriers using owner-operators to “greater scrutiny and exposure,” according to a new American Trucking Associations’ owner-operator classification alert.

The rules are changing for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s “SafeStat” audits for trucking companies.

WASHINGTON — Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator Anne Ferro said she is committed to launching the agency’s new truck safety rating system in July, although she expects there will be problems at the start.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s new enforcement plan, Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010, seems destined to be a major step forward in how the federal government oversees truck fleets and drivers.

UPS Inc. said that it opened its C$30 million Calgary, Alberta, truck and air hub on Feb. 22, completing a consolidation project begun in June 2008.

WASHINGTON — Officials attending American Trucking Associations’ Winter Leadership Meeting here last week said they were more optimistic about the future than they were a year ago, because the economic fortunes and political winds appear to be changing.

January truck tonnage rose 5.7%, the biggest year-over-year increase in five years and solid evidence of a recovery in the industry and the U.S. economy, American Trucking Associations reported last week.