Virginia handed back a controversial plan to build truck-only toll lanes on Interstate 81 to the project’s architects, saying it wants to take a broader look at the highway’s needs and the procedures for considering such proposals.

ARLINGTON, Va. — An initial refinery test showed the ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel that federal rules will require in four years will not be drastically contaminated in oil pipelines as some had feared.

FARMINGTON, Pa. — The Trucking Association Executives Council named J. Richards “Rick” Todd its chairman for 2003 and gave the Bob Halladay award to William J. Canary, American Trucking Associations’ president and chief executive officer.

Shippers’ groups said their members were not making major shifts in cargo routing, even though longshoremen put on hold their contract talks with West Coast port terminal operators until Aug. 13 and the union gave its negotiators power to seek a strike vote by members.

FARMINGTON, Pa. — American Trucking Associations mended its state federation structure as it welcomed back the wayward New Hampshire Motor Transport Association after an 18-month absence.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union said it submitted a proposal allowing West Coast port operators the use of productivity-enhancing technology in exchange for expanded union job coverage, including all new information technology jobs.

Even though a top Department of Transportation spokesman said a decision to open the United States southern border was imminent, a key provision on audits of Mexican fleets remains to be worked out between the U.S. and Mexican governments.

Longshoremen and West Coast port operators continued to haggle over a new contract last week, and some said talks could continue until the union caucuses on July 22.

American Trucking Associations and a host of hazardous materials transportation groups have sued the Department of Transportation over what they say are excess fees the government collects for hazmat registrations.

Building a central database of hazardous materials shipments would be more trouble than it would be worth, and could create new security concerns, according to a study Congress ordered.