The Department of Transportation has done little to prepare for opening the entire United States to Mexican trucks, and there is still a critical need for more inspectors and facilities in the four border states, according to an interim report from DOT’s inspector general.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Pete Domenici, the New Mexico Republican who chairs the Budget Committee in the Senate, wants to give the Customs Service an additional $500 million to spend on brick and mortar for its facilities along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Canadian National Railway Co. and the Canadian Trucking Alliance are facing off over a CN proposal that the Canadian government extend tax incentives to lure shippers into using rail instead of trucks.

The U.S.-Mexico border needs more inspectors and more facilities, according to the latest Department of Transportation Inspector General report released on Thursday.

Exercising moderately five times a week is critical to improving the health of commercial truck drivers and extending their life span, according to Stanley Lowenthal, chief operating officer of Health Screenings Inc. in Louisville, Ky.

Trucking companies in Puerto Rico are not exempt from provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act like their U.S. counterparts, obligating them to pay overtime to drivers and negating their inclusion under federal hours-of-service regulations, a federal judge recently ruled.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s anticipated draft rules for allowing Mexican trucks into the country have been released from the Office of Management and Budget, and will be published in Wednesday’s Federal Register..

Canadian and U.S. carriers hauling lumber into the U.S. from Canadian mills are caught in the middle of an international dispute that is hurting their business, according to Paul Landry of the British Columbia Trucking Association.

Shifting freight from trucks to rail in North American trade corridors would significantly increase air pollution in those areas over the next 20 years as the percentage of pollution caused by trains increases and the percentage caused by trucks decreases, according to a study done by the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation.

Truck drivers sitting for long periods on long hauls may be susceptible to developing blood clots in their legs, according to Dr. Robert McBane of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.