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ARLINGTON, Va. — American Trucking Associations said last week it would become more vocal in its support for increased fuel efficiency in heavy trucks and ratified an agreement with the biodiesel industry to promote that fuel at the federal level.

A thick layer of ice kept parts of major highways closed in Pennsylvania Friday morning, a day after hundreds of drivers became stranded on a hilly stretch of Interstate 78 that was hit by this week’s big snow and ice storm, the Associated Press reported.

A time-honored axiom of business is that everything begins with a sale. It’s a truism that seems especially apt in the transportation industry. After all, motor carriers need to find freight to fill their trailers. Shippers need to find carriers to haul their commodities.

Rail intermodal traffic rose 1.1% last week, the Association of American Railroads reported Thursday.

The big snow storm that paralyzed parts of the Midwest Wednesday shut down traffic on Interstate 78 for about 50 miles near the junction with Interstate 81 in Lebanon County, Pa., the Allentown Morning Call reported Thursday on its Web site.

In addition to providing billions of dollars for congestion relief, the Department of Transportation’s $67 billion fiscal 2008 budget proposal included millions of dollars for commercial vehicle safety.

In May 2000, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a number of proposed changes to the existing hours-of-service rules — rules which, until this point, had remained virtually unchanged for 60 years.

The U.S. Transportation Department’s transportation services index fell 0.4% in 2006, its first annual decline since 2001, DOT said Wednesday.

ATA Seeks Alerts to Fleets on Drivers’ CDLs • ATRI Seeking Input for Speed-Governor Survey • Idaho Eyes Raising Truck Speed Limit to 70 MPH • Mitsubishi Fuso Recalls 60,000 Trucks Overseas

Logistics firm Expeditors International of Washington on Tuesday said its fourth-quarter profits fell to $62.6 million or 28 cents a share, down from $74.3 million or 34 cents a year ago.