MEMPHIS, Tenn. —An improving economy and higher number of vehicle miles traveled “don’t tell the whole story” for continuing increases in the number of fatalities on U.S. highways, National Safety Council CEO Deborah Hersman told executives attending a safety meeting here.

Two Missouri men have been sentenced to five years probation and barred from doing business with the federal government for five years for their roles in administering over 100 fraudulent truck driver and veteran medical exams.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Nov. 9 issued a proposed rule to repeal the Obama administration’s Medium- and Heavy-Duty Truck Phase 2 Greenhouse Gas Emission and Fuel Efficiency Standards for the glider industry.

The U.S. Department of Transportation plans on Jan. 1 to begin testing truck drivers and other “safety-sensitive” transportation employees for the semi-synthetic opioids hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxymorphone and oxycodone, the agency announced Nov. 9.

Roughly one out of every seven trucks and buses inspected during a one-day special brake safety law-enforcement effort in September was placed out of service for brake-related violations, according to the group that coordinated the inspections.

Rhode Island transportation officials are delaying implementation of the initial phase of a trucks-only toll plan until February or March to shore up work on the plan’s environmental permitting, technical, engineering and financial requirements, a state Department of Transportation spokesman said.

Daphne Jefferson, deputy administrator for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, is retiring effective Nov. 3 from her post as the No. 2 leader at the agency, an FMCSA spokesman said.

The Department of Labor is taking steps that would meet the objectives of a presidential executive order and encourage motor carriers and other trucking organizations to create apprenticeships for new employees to receive federal funding while they train to become drivers or maintenance technicians.