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The new year for trucking companies picks up right where 2010 left off, with optimism about an improving economy but also plenty of unknowns about which to worry.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s proposed new hours-of-service rule would cut driving hours, a move that trucking industry leaders said was politically motivated, adding cost and complexity while jeopardizing safety advances made in recent years.

Consumer confidence rose to a six-month high this month, according to the final monthly Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index released Thursday.

The House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday that would extend a program of grants and loans to reduce diesel emissions.

Transport Topics Online will be closed Friday and Monday for the Christmas holiday. Please check back on Tuesday, Dec. 28, for the latest trucking and freight transportation news.

After several years of anticipation throughout the trucking industry, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and National Highway Transportation Safety Administration finally in October released their joint proposed rule to regulate greenhouse gases for the commercial transportation sector.

Safety and compliance issues were in the spotlight for the trucking industry in 2010, and technology providers subsequently sharpened their focus on products and services aimed at helping fleets cope with increased government scrutiny.

The year began with hopes the Obama administration and Congress could end their stalemate over the highway bill. But like 2009, this year is expected to end without a new long-term reauthorization agreement.

The speed limit for cars and trucks on the Ohio Turnpike will go from 65 to 70 miles an hour starting April 1, a change that the state’s trucking industry opposes.