Trucking this week launched a multi-faceted advertising campaign in an effort to build public opposition to a proposal by the Arkansas Highway Commission to toll three interstate highways.

Is bigger better? Or is smaller beautiful? Some in the trucking and railroad industries would take issue with both. Trucking sees bigger loads increasing the productivity of drivers, but its rail counterpart fears the loss of freight business.

They might as well post a sign at the entrance to the Alexandria, Va., headquarters of American Trucking Associations, saying “Welcome to the New ATA.”

Highway spending dominated the first half of 1998 as Congress worked to complete a massive surface transportation bill. No sooner had President Clinton signed the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century into law than trucking safety was thrust into the spotlight by a proposal to place the Office of Motor Carriers in a new home.

The chairman of the Oregon Trucking Associations was among four people killed Jan. 6 when the small plane they were flying in crashed about 30 miles southwest of Portland, Ore.

The Federal Highway Administration’s decision to consider negotiating a new hours of service rule could improve relations among trucking industry, government, labor and safety groups.

The Department of Transportation has drafted a review of truck size and weight that is designed to help lawmakers weigh proposals, a senior DOT official said last week.

The chairman of the Oregon Trucking Associations was among four people killed Jan. 6 when the small plane they were flying in crashed and burned about 30 miles southwest of Portland, Ore.

The Department of Transportation’s new truck size and weight study is winning praise from the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks.

In a Christmas Eve notice, FHWA quietly unveiled the criteria for participating in a federal pilot program that will permit up to three states to charge tolls on interstate highways.