Major trucking companies and other transportation providers have been conservative in their use of stock options as a form of executive compensation, according to a report from J.P. Morgan Securities.

Brig. Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody will take charge of the Army’s Military Traffic Management Command on Oct. 17 when the unit’s current commander, Maj. Gen. Kenneth L. Privratsky, retires from the service.

WASHINGTON — The new, longer labor pact between the Teamsters and United Parcel Service could be a harbinger for the less-than-truckload and vehicle-moving industries, which must both negotiate their own deals with the union to replace contracts that will expire in 2003.

The economy’s growing recovery is beginning to tighten the market for truck drivers, according to industry statistics and recent interviews with fleet owners and managers.

WASHINGTON — The head of Yellow Corp., one of the nation’s largest less-than-truckload carriers, wants speed limits for trucks capped at 65 miles per hour across the nation, and he said Yellow will divert part of its advertising budget to trumpet the cause of highway safety.

Trucking was the third mode of transportation for Susan M. Coughlin, who turns her 20-year career back toward aviation, where she began, effective June 10.

Two major less-than-truckload carriers have raised their freight-hauling rates for smaller customers by almost 6% and a major rate bureau may recommend its 140 members make a similar increase.

Trucking equities have sharply outperformed the stock market for the past year, with the value of publicly traded carriers up 35% as a group despite lackluster earnings and low freight volumes through a recessionary period.

First-quarter reports show that some publicly traded trucking companies have boosted their net earnings through the tough turnaround plans they instituted a year ago to staunch worrisome losses.

SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. Department of Transportation is still working on three major trucking regulations, but the completion dates are as yet unknown, the government’s top trucking regulator said.