ST. LOUIS — Major engine suppliers told trucking industry officials last week they plan to use the lowest-cost approach to meeting tougher diesel engine emissions standards for 2007 and beyond, but offered widely differing schedules for deciding what types of engines to build.

NEW ORLEANS — Trucking companies that invest in safety technology, such as collision warning systems, should receive tax breaks or insurance-premium reductions, the head of one of the largest truckload carriers said recently.

Trucking is a cash-intensive business. Before the first load is delivered, truckers must have enough cash to pay drivers and buy large quantities of fuel.

Despite an economy that expanded throughout last year, the road ahead for truckload carriers appears to be anything but smooth.

Truck leasing executives were expected to get an update on new diesel engine development, plus an analysis of the economy and U.S. war preparations at the Truck Renting and Leasing Associations' 25th annual convention March 12-16 in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

St. Paul Cos., a leading provider of commercial property and liability insurance to the trucking industry, has shifted the focus of its business to emphasize higher deductible policies for large trucking companies, according to several insurance industry sources.

In 1985, Tom Kirchner of Norrenberns Truck Service in Nashville, Ill., bought 140 acres adjacent to Interstate 64 as a site for his expanding regional trucking business.

An internal Teamsters opposition group recently filed a lawsuit against the Central States Pension Fund, challenging rules that prohibit retirees from taking other jobs while collecting pension benefits.

How much do trucking employers need to know about the men and women who climb behind the wheels of America's big rigs?

Contacts he made while governor of Kansas with fellow governors and other officials are already proving very useful in promoting the trucking industry's agenda in Washington, American Trucking Associations’ President Bill Graves said last week.