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The Obama Administration sent a six-year, $478 billion transportation spending bill to Congress last week, asking for a $25 billion per year increase in federal transportation spending beyond the current level of about $50 billion per year. The biggest increase would come in transit funding, which would realize a 79 percent boost to an average…

Low water levels due to drought in California’s Sacramento River have forced wildlife officials to turn to trucking for the second year in a row in a bid to save 12 million juvenile Chinook salmon. The smolts are being transported in container trucks over a 22-day period to be released into Battle Creek, near the…

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) plans to publish its final rule on Electronic Logging Devices on Sept. 30, according to agency officials. FMCSA says the rule will go into effect 24 months from Sept. 30. According to the agency, the ELD rule will establish the following: Minimum performance and design standards for hours-of-service…

The Idaho Legislature passed a memorial bill asking Congress to raise truck weight limits in the state and U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) has introduced legislation in Congress to make that happen, according to press reports. Trucks weighing up to 129,000 pounds could travel interstates under the proposed legislation, an increase from the current limit…

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the national organization for state departments of transportation, recently joined the National Strategy on Highway Safety Toward Zero Deaths (TZD) effort, a vision of eliminating fatalities on our nation’s roadways. The Toward Zero Deaths effort was created by a steering committee cooperative that includes numerous…

In early March, the U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit ruled against the California Construction Trucking Association (CCTA) in its case against the California Air Resource Board (CARB). In it’s ruling, the appeals court affirmed a lower court ruling that it does not have jurisdiction to hear the case. CCTA filed suit in 2011, claiming…

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is in the early stages of a procurement that will replace the agency’s aging delivery fleet with a next-generation vehicle. The USPS plans to replace most of its fleet of more than 200,000 vehicles with a new model and manufacturers are lining up to look at a contract that…

New York City recently announced it would retrofit 240 city trucks with side guards this year as part of its Vision Zero safety program. The side guards are rails placed between the front and rear wheels of the truck to protect pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists from being caught under the vehicle in a collision. “We…

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is fighting the proposed merger of Sysco and US Foods on the basis that such a merger would violate antitrust laws. Sysco and US Foods are the largest broadline food service distributors in the U.S. and operate two of the largest truck fleets in the country. “This proposed merger would…

Though a resolution has been reached, the aftermath of the West Coast ports dispute will ripple through the supply chain for months to come, according to port and trade officials. A tentative agreement with the 29 ports and 20,000 dockworkers ended a months-long dispute but the aftermath will take time to sort out. Industries ranging…