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SAN DIEGO — Increases in truck tonnage and freight rates should make trucking executives happy, but the long-festering driver shortage has mushroomed to such a critical level that fleet managers meeting here said they either have made or may soon make radical changes in how they operate.

SAN DIEGO — A majority of Americans perceive truck drivers to be safer than other motorists, an indication the industry’s image may be more positive than previously thought, according to a recent poll.

SAN DIEGO — Leaders of American Trucking Associations meeting here said they have put themselves in the best position to successfully see long overdue highway funding and other legislation passed, while preventing what they view as an explosion of burdensome regulations.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is scheduled to publish a proposed rule in April that would drop a current requirement that insulin-treated interstate truck drivers with diabetes apply for a special exemption to be issued a medical certification card.

We strive to interact directly with those who have the most influence on the trucking and freight transportation industry, so we thank Scott Darling III, acting chief of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, for speaking with Transport Topics last week.

Top executives and industry experts plan to explore ways business leaders and government officials can work to relieve congestion along the country’s aging transportation network during a panel discussion Oct. 4-7 at American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & Exhibition in San Diego.

The latest weekly load board reports from DAT and Internet Truck Stop showed modest changes on a sequential basis.

August’s truck tonnage index jumped 4.5% from a year ago to a record 132.6 reading, American Trucking Associations said Sept. 23.