The federal government has issued a proposed rule requiring new heavy­duty vehicles to be equipped with speed-limiter devices that many large trucking fleets have been using voluntarily for several years.

Deficient roads and bridges and congested highways in California are costing the state’s motorists $53.6 billion a year and are increasing overall operating costs for trucking and shipping companies, according to a new report by a Washington D.C.-based transportation research group.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is seeking comment on a request by the National Tank Truck Carriers that the agency make an administrative determination whether federal hazmat transportation law preempts California meal and rest break requirements for hazmat carriers.

U.S. highway fatalities in 2015 jumped 7.2% to 35,092, an increase of 2,348 deaths from 2014, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported Aug. 29.

Top medical advisers to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration have recommended a slate of sleep apnea guidelines that would require truck drivers to participate in costly diagnostic sleep studies if they have a body mass index of 40 or higher, experienced excessive fatigue or sleepiness while driving or have been in a sleep-related accident.

Federal trucking regulators have announced plans to conduct a three-year pilot project to allow truckers between the ages of 18 and 21 with military truck driving experience to operate in interstate commerce.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s top medical advisers have recommended a slate of sleep apnea guidelines that would require truck drivers to take costly diagnostic sleep studies if they have a body mass index of 40 or higher, have experienced excessive fatigue or sleepiness while driving, or have been in a sleep-related crash.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s top medical advisers on Aug. 22 began a two-day review of obstructive sleep apnea diagnosis and treatment issues to offer their final recommendations for apnea regulatory requirements.

INDIANAPOLIS — At a practice session about a week before veteran Wal-Mart Transportation driver Charles “Mike” White hopped into a 3-axle truck to negotiate the nerve-wracking National Truck Driving Championships “skills” course, fellow company driver and last year’s grand champ Ronald Emenheiser Sr. made a prediction.