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Thank you to our readers for the many favorable comments we’ve received in response to the special report on CSA 2010 that Transport Topics produced as part of the April 26 issue.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration was criticized during a Senate subcommittee hearing last week for not doing enough to clamp down on unsafe trucks, particularly with regard to driver hours of service.

Reese Taylor Jr., who was chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission when the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 was implemented, died April 16 in Las Vegas. He was 81.

PRINCETON, N.J. — New federal safety regulations soon will drive a wave of purchases by U.S. trucking companies that have not yet adopted electronic onboard recorders and mobile communication systems that closely monitor driver performance, a technology vendor here said.

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Truck makers and dealers have called for a 10% investment tax credit to smooth out the buying cycle of the cleaner burning but more expensive trucking equipment. 

Consumer confidence grew this month to its highest level since September 2008, the New York-based Conference Board reported.

New Jersey plans to close bathrooms at two more highway rest stops due to budget cutbacks this year, a move that has renewed calls to allow states to lease rest areas to private truck stop operators.

Trucking has a seat on a newly-created transition team that is supposed to set the future course of the Illinois Tollway but higher tolls are not in trucking’s future, the industry representative said.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration released the 2010 fees for the Unified Carrier Registration program Monday, more than doubling the levy across the board but setting it slightly lower than the agency had proposed last year.