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A Clinton administration proposal to charge maritime vessel operators a fee to cover the cost of harbor and navigational channel dredging is under fire from ports and maritime interests, but a powerful lawmaker warned that some sort of fee is likely.

Cargo Transporters likes collision-warning systems well enough to equip 100 of its new trucks with the devices, which operate on the same principal as radar.

Driver pay increased at an annual rate of 3.3% in the first quarter of 1999, a bit higher than the 3.1% annual rate seen in the fourth quarter of 1998, according to the National Survey of Driver Wages.

In an experiment that has an element of risk to it, Yellow Corp. is providing transportation services for eChemicals, a company that uses the Internet to match buyers and sellers of industrial chemicals.

Schneider National may have validated the technology that makes it possible to locate and track trailers unhooked from power units in announcing at the end of April the deal to retrofit much of its fleet of 43,000 trailers with a product developed by Vantage Tracking Solutions.

A year ago, a half-dozen companies were contending in the race to develop commercially viable untethered trailer-tracking systems. Today, one company -- Orbcomm Global -- has clearly emerged as the one to beat.

A National Research Council study suggests people are eager to use technology to make business processes more efficient, but that it may take some digging to determine which are the best tools.

A conference for Wall Street analysts on railroad finance last week turned into a debate on whether railroads should be forced to provide competitive access to their tracks and other infrastructure.

The debate over on-highway electronic clearance of commercial trucks has broken down into two major turf wars: One battlefield pits the private vs. the public sector, and the other arena is technology.

As the federal government begins developing a plan to increase the availability and safety of nighttime parking for long-haul truckers, truck stop operators are saying it's a non-issue.