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Crumbling and congested U.S. roadways are driving up costs for U.S. manufacturers as late deliveries and unreliable transportation undermine hard-fought gains in production efficiency, according to U.S. manufacturing executives. Thomas Riordan, Chief Executive of Neenah Enterprises and an official with a national manufacturers group, figures that truck and rail traffic congestion raise the Neenah, Wis.,…

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is mulling over the possibility of giving motor carriers regulatory flexibility or other benefits if their safety efforts go beyond minimum requirements, the agency’s chief safety officer said recently. Speaking to an American Trucking Associations Safety Policy Committee at the group’s annual meeting in San Diego, Jack Van…

A year into construction of the new $3.9 billion Tappan Zee Bridge in New York, state officials have yet to spell out what tolls will be assessed on the new bridge. Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency balked at Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to use $511 million in federal clean water loans on the project. Cuomo…

A pilot project led by the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the University of Minnesota is looking at providing real-time information to truckers about where they can find a safe a place to pull off the road when they have reached their driving limit. Federal regulations limit truckers to a maximum 70-hour workweek, down from…

Despite being in the midst of one of the strongest markets for commercial trucks in almost a decade – sales of natural gas-powered trucks are not keeping pace, according to Power Systems Research (PSR). PSR says higher prices, improved diesel fuel economy and a scarcity of fueling stations are keeping demand for natural gas vehicles…

Truck Stop Health Care, a Florida start-up company, is trying to launch a national service to provide certified medical examiners at truck stops to provide DOT-certified physical exams to CDL drivers. The company says there are 1.8 million CDL drivers in the U.S. and more than 7,000 truck stops on U.S. highways. The company plans…

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has launched a new section on its website, www.atri-online.org, which covers a wide range of sustainable practices. “Sustainable practices are an emerging focus for trucking companies,” said Chad England, a member of the ATRI Research Committee and CEO of C.R. England. ATRI’s compendium is a great resource for gaining insight…

The U.S.-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council adopted a Joint Forward Plan last month that identified 29 cross-border initiatives the two countries have agreed to address. In addition to agreeing to address concerns raised by the pharmaceutical and agriculture industries, the council has agreed to work on a wide range of issues aimed at benefiting trucking, transportation…

A U.S. Federal Appeals court last week ruled against FedEx Ground, finding that the package delivery firm had misclassified 2,300 drivers as independent contractors instead of employees. The case involved California drivers from 2000-2007 and the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit in Portland, Oregon reverses the findings of an Indiana court….