WASHINGTON — Hours-of-service rule changes set to take effect in January will cut carrier productivity, put pressure on driver pay, worsen a growing driver shortage and lead to slower growth for fleets, a key trucking executive said here Oct. 24.

Oil refiners are on target to supply highway diesel fuel containing significantly less sulfur than current fuel within the next four to six years, according to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report released Oct. 29.

Truck industry representatives at a California meeting last week said that the state’s proposal for onboard diagnostics of heavy-duty truck engine emissions systems should be delayed.

A new report funded by backers of the proposed Detroit River Tunnel Project showed that an unplanned shutdown of the Ambassador Bridge — the busiest U.S.-Canada crossing — would cost $65 million a day.

The California Air Resources Board issued a rule Sept. 25 that will require owners of waste-hauling truck fleets to retrofit their vehicles’ engines with particulate-matter controls starting next year.

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency’s report on oil refiners’ ability to make ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel widely available by 2006 could be out by the end of the month, an EPA official said last week.

WASHINGTON — Caterpillar Inc. officials said last week the company would phase out its “bridge” engines by year’s end and that it would roll out heavy-duty versions of its new “Acert” engines starting next month..

The state agency that regulates air quality in California planned a public hearing Oct. 23 to consider requiring that all heavy-duty truck engines built between 1993 and 1998 include computer software to reduce nitrogen oxides emissions, even if the trucks are not registered in the state.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — While the economy's strength may sustain trucking over the next few years, the industry faces major challenges in high fuel prices, hiring new drivers and coping with new, more expensive engine technologies, a panel of carrier and manufacturing executives said Sept. 22.