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As the ongoing storm hovers over the trucking industry, some carriers are so busy hunkering down that they have forgotten to look for the silver lining in those clouds, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

Bob Costello, American Trucking Associations’ chief economist, has been appointed by Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to the Advisory Council on Transportation Statistics, which advises DOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

A truck parts maker has decided to keep a northern Indiana factory open after announcing last month that it would be shut down, the Associated Press reported.

The Mid-America Trucking Show this year was miles beyond the somber version last year. The exhibition hall in Louisville was humming last week with new products and rising expectations, reflecting the fact that virtually all segments of trucking are showing signs of recovery.

Business groups, including American Trucking Associations, said they had concerns about the recently enacted health-care reform package.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Truck makers and their suppliers returned to marketing products here that intrigue drivers and appeal to fleet executives based on durability, comfort, ease of operation and even pizzazz, after years spent surviving the Great Recession and straining to meet government-imposed emissions requirements.

Truck tonnage rose 2.6% in February, the third consecutive year-over-year increase, as the industry continues a steady rebound, American Trucking Associations reported.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said Friday that 74% of commercial truck and bus drivers are now using their safety belts, up from 65% in 2007.

A new diesel-emissions-reduction program at the Port of New York and New Jersey that will ban pre-1994 trucks beginning in 2011 will be costly and burdensome for motor carriers and comes at a time when fleets are reeling from the recession, state trucking officials said.