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WASHINGTON — The new head of the Federal Highway Administration said he was open to considering changes to truck size-and-weight limits and other truck productivity issues as part of the Transportation Department’s proposals for the 2009 reauthorization of federal transportation legislation.

Diesel engine maker Cummins Inc. Wednesday unveiled two new auxiliary power unit systems that are compliant with new California Air Resources Board idle-reduction regulations.

The number of professional truck drivers using safety belts jumped dramatically last year to a record 65%, the Department of Transportation said Tuesday.

The trucking industry is part of a grand environmental experiment being conducted in British Columbia — the first North American jurisdiction to introduce a carbon tax on all fossil fuels, including diesel, at the retail level.

The government of Ontario has resurrected a plan to make speed limiters mandating maximum mandatory truck speeds at about 65 miles per hour in the province, according to the Ontario trucking Association, which backs the plan.

American Trucking Associations and the Partnership for Uniform Marketing Practices recently requested that California prohibit the use of automatic temperature compensation equipment in retail fuel sales.

The Opinion column by John Hausladen, “Be Ready to Explain Your SAFER Scores,” is an excellent reminder to fleets about how important the Safety and Fitness Electronic Record System score is — and, how it can be misinterpreted by those uninformed about the industry.

A recent Transportation Department report said work on several key new regulations has fallen behind schedule, including shorter stopping distance for heavy trucks, safety reviews of new trucking companies, medical certification of drivers and a new registration system.

The Illinois Department of Transportation will spend $1.2 million to update and repair security systems at interstate rest stops, the Associated Press reported Monday.