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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.

Iowa’s trucking industry lost a dear friend and valued leader this past week. John Ruan was one of the three founders of the Iowa Motor Truck Association.

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.

The lengthy and ongoing truck sales drought caused America’s Class 8 truck fleet to contract 2.1% during the fourth quarter, the first such decline since the third quarter of 2008, according to the year-end report on commercial vehicle registrations by R.L. Polk & Co.

The demise of IdleAire, the largest U.S. truck-stop electrification vendor, leaves the door open for several smaller operators that hope to build their own businesses with a simpler product.

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.

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.