Once upon a time, citizen band radios were as much a part of the gear in a trucker’s rig as his Ray-Bans and coffee Thermos. Being without one on the road was unthinkable. A CB was a trucker’s lifeline to the outside world.

Rate bureau SMC3 on March 17 approved a 4.73% increase in general tariff rates for its 124 less-than-truckload carrier members to take effect May 2.

The California Air Resources Board is considering whether to push for financial incentives to prompt freight transportation firms operating around nearby ports to curb diesel emissions, said a spokesman for that regulatory agency.

An association of fuel suppliers and pipeline companies said it would ask the federal government to allow them to sell diesel fuel with slightly higher sulfur levels than environmental rules would allow next year.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Two major fuel suppliers told truck stop industry officials meeting here that new tests showed it was currently impossible to deliver ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel through the nation’s pipeline system without it picking up too much sulfur along the way.

American Trucking Associations’ decision to reestablish its Intermodal Motor Carriers Conference prompted RoadLink USA — which ATA considers the nation’s largest intermodal trucking network — to join the association Jan. 24, a company official said.

Workers continued on the job at Volvo Trucks North America’s New River plant in Dublin, Va., even though a union contract there expired at midnight Monday, a company official said Tuesday.

Executives for GeoLogic Solutions said the former transportation division of Aether Systems might soon expand its in-cab mobile communications and trailer-tracking technologies to the less-than-truckload industry.

Seeking to ease congestion around the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority said it was planning to build an inland truck depot this spring to reduce truck traffic on the Long Beach Freeway, Interstate 710.