Click here to write a Letter to the Editor. hree senators introduced legislation last week that would not only give fleets a 5% tax credit on the purchase of 2007-model Class 7 and 8 trucks equipped with cleaner-burning diesel engines, but would allow for expensing the full purchase price of those vehicles on a single year’s tax returns.

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor. img src="http://www.ttnews.com/images/printeditiontag_new.gif" width=120 align=right>Trucking officials said they expected legislators soon would introduce in Congress a measure providing financial incentives to fleets that purchase the next generation of cleaner-burning diesel engines in 2007.

The U.S. House of Representatives adopted an appropriations committee report scolding the Department of Homeland Security for its handling of freight security — including the Transportation Worker Identification Card program and fingerprint-based background checks for drivers of hazardous materials.

The Senate's $295 billion highway funding bill did not include a provision making the current driver hours-of-service rule permanent. That means including the HOS rule in the final bill is unlikely, but not impossible, according to congressional staff and observers.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee began work last week on an energy bill that would encourage the use of anti-idling technology on heavy-duty trucks and would fund biodiesel and fuel-cell research.

CHICAGO — An American Trucking Associations executive said ATA was now seeking a legislative solution to problems with a federal program requiring fingerprint-based background checks for hazardous materials drivers.

Industry leaders unanimously decried a proposed federal rule that would require thousands of tank trucks to be retrofitted with equipment to purge the pipes used for the unloading and loading of flammable liquids.

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor. ASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments last week over the legality of the fees Michigan charges truckers who deliver goods within the state’s borders.

The House of Representatives has approved an energy bill that includes $100 million for a new program to provide financial incentives to fleets to replace their older trucks with newer, cleaner-burning models or to retrofit their older diesel engines to meet current emission rules.

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor. img src="http://www.ttnews.com/images/printeditiontag_new.gif" width=120 align=right>The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued its final rule defining the transportation of hazardous materials in a Federal Register notice April 15. The agency said its rule clarifies where other agencies can regulate some portions of hazmat shipping.