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Reform of the 65-year-old rules governing how long interstate truckers can drive has been the subject of heated discussion for years — among regulators, lawmakers, safety advocates and industry officials — but it wasn’t until 1999 that there was significant movement on the issue.

The last year of the 20th century was a period of rebuilding for American Trucking Associations, which began a top-to-bottom restructuring in 1998.

A booming economy generated strong demand for freight hauling, but rising costs for fuel, equipment, insurance and driver wages took a toll on many fleets in 1999.

United Parcel Service’s decision to go public provided the biggest spark in an otherwise quiet year for trucking stocks.

Trucking labor historians will look back on 1999 and note that it was the year a second Hoffa took over the helm at the Teamsters union and frustrations with port operations on both coasts came to a head.

E-commerce, e-banking and e-fulfillment all arrived in 1999, but it was another “e”-word that struck terror into the hearts of trucking companies across the land.

It took 47 years of fighting, but trucking hopes 1999 will be remembered as the year Oregon’s weight-distance tax was finally put to rest.

As the year headed into its twilight, the Environmental Protection Agency shocked trucking with the announcement of plans to tighten restrictions on diesel pollution even more than engine makers had agreed to.

Sales of Class 8 tractors blazed a record-setting pace through 1999, and a series of foreign mergers and deals changed the landscape of the truck-making industry.

Efforts to increase trucking productivity took many forms in 1999 as some trucking groups pushed for allowing big rigs to carry heavier loads and railroads were prodded to allow greater access to their tracks..