American Trucking Associations doesn’t plan to actively lobby for passage of legislation allowing states to increase maximum truck weights to 97,000 pounds. Instead, the organization’s board of directors was expected to vote June 18 to create a productivity task force to examine truck size and weight as part of a big-picture look at ways to improve efficiency in trucking.

Political clout and policy discussions were the main attractions at American Trucking Associations’ Summer Leadership Meeting, which featured appearances from top lawmakers, reporters and regulators.

A congressman who also is a trucking executive understands how to win passage of legislation that would speed up restoration of the 80% tax deduction for meals while truckers are on the road.

Trucking is getting some help from academia in fighting proposed federal legislation on repetitive stress injuries. The Regulatory Studies Program at George Mason University is researching the impact the proposal would have on business, Wendi Gramm, the program’s director, said in a June 17 speech to the Labor & Human Resources Policy Committee of American Trucking Associations.

It’s time to have a rational debate over trucking productivity, said the head of a group advocating increasing the maximum truck weight to 97,000 pounds. “I ask you to keep an open mind as we talk about removing obstacles to productivity, ” Peter Vroom, director of Americans for Safe and Efficient Transportation, said at a Transportation Table lunch at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C

The Western Governors Association weighed in on the issue of bigger, heavier trucks last week but shied away from seeking federal approval for wider use of longer combination vehicles. The governors voted June 15 to ask the Department of Transportation to study the operation of LCVs and other high-payload trucks in the West.

The vision of the Truckload Academy started to take shape during an organizational meeting of 50 carriers, suppliers and educators held June 15 by the Truckload Carriers Association. TCA staff outlined a draft curriculum and described ways to deliver education and training programs to trucking personnel, ranging from drivers to chief executives.

ARLINGTON, Va. — American Trucking Associations doesn’t plan to actively lobby for passage of legislation allowing states to increase maximum truck weights to 97,000 pounds.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Political clout and policy discussions were the main attractions at American Trucking Associations’ Summer Leadership Meeting that featured appearances from top lawmakers, reporters and regulators.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Trucking is getting some help from academia in fighting a proposed federal legislation on repetitive stress injuries.