Users of the Pennsylvania Turnpike could soon be facing its first toll hike since 1991, state officials told Transport Topics last week.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Mark Dietsche of Keizer, Ore., said he drove more than 100 miles each weekend to practice with a straight truck for the National Truck Driving Championships, where he became the first driver for FedEx Freight to win as grand champion.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Though the big award at the National Truck Driving Championships went to FedEx Freight’s Mark Dietsche, other drivers received awards at the 66th annual event held here as well.

After years of watching fellow drivers at Overnite Transportation Co. compete in the North Carolina Trucking Association’s state championships, George Somers decided, “This year, I just really wanted to try it myself.”

Haulers of hazardous materials said they were still looking to the federal government last week for word on the looming deadlines for driver background checks, but they differed on how business would be affected if some were disqualified.

Ohio transportation officials said they were expecting the Federal Highway Administration to decide soon whether to fund a study that could help get heavy trucks back onto the state’s turnpike and off secondary highways.

With less than three weeks before its Sept. 2 deadline to complete name-based background checks on millions of hazardous material drivers, the Transportation Security Administration said it could not yet supply information on how those checks were progressing.

After waiting for months for the Transportation Security Administration to clear up procedures for background checks of hazardous materials drivers, key industry and state officials said this week it was now too late to meet the fast-approaching deadlines.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration awarded medals to Gail Toth, executive director of the New Jersey Motor Truck Association, and five FMCSA officials for special transportation-related service in the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. br clear=all>

Hoping to reduce idling time and engine wear, Freightliner LLC has begun trials of a fuel cell that uses methanol to produce electricity that operates cab appliances from computers to the air conditioner.