The Department of Transportation said last week that the U.S. border with Mexico won’t be opened to Mexican truckers on Jan. 1, as the Bush administration had wanted.

WASHINGTON — Congress and the White House broke a long impasse and agreed to permit Mexican trucks to operate throughout the United States.

The new transportation security agency established by President Bush’s Nov. 19 signing of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act will have broad powers to improve the security of the nation’s entire transportation system.

Traffic managers have evolved from hourly workers, who combed through volumes of tariff guides looking for the right rate and service combinations for their company’s freight, to become supply chain professionals with whiz kid computer knowledge and a seat in the corporate boardroom.

The Senate appointed conferees on the fiscal 2002 transportation appropriations bill after two GOP senators reached an agreement with the Bush administration regarding the entry of Mexican trucks into the U.S.

A new and quickly crafted anti-terrorism law requires the federal government to certify the backgrounds of drivers who haul hazardous materials, but there is no system in place to do so, according to government and industry officials, who say the law needs to be fixed.

Federal officials have slashed the number of truck safety compliance reviews to be conducted over the next four months so that inspectors can spend most of their time briefing hazardous-materials carriers on how to prevent trucks from being used by terrorists.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Shippers looking to cut transportation costs during the current economic downturn are using fewer carriers but relying heavily on trucking firms that served them well during the good times.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Increased security concerns after the terrorist attacks may give added weight to arguments that the U.S. is not ready to allow Mexican trucks to operate freely within its borders, transportation lobbyists told the National Small Shipments Traffic Conference Sept. 24.

The most lasting impact on the trucking industry of the deadly terrorist attacks may be an additional slowing of the nation’s economy.