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Clearly, apprehension over the potential ramifications of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s new truck safety ratings program is growing as we move closer to full implementation of the plan.

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Retail sales of medium-duty trucks totaled 19,991 units in April, a 7.9% increase from a year earlier, WardsAuto.com reported May 13.

New orders for heavy-duty trucks increased 91% in April, from the same month of 2009, ACT Research Co. reported.

Flatbed carrier Boyd Bros. Transportation has ordered 325 trucks with 2010 engines from Navistar Inc., the manufacturer said Thursday.

The Obama administration was set last week to outline a path to national fuel-economy standards for large trucks, bringing industry and government officials to the White House to announce a plan that could aim at driving habits as well as equipment changes to reduce fuel use.

Mexico’s president, Felipe Calderon, said last week that the United States and his nation would solve the countries’ ongoing trade dispute caused by the closure of the southern border to longhaul truck traffic.

Agents of the California Air Resources Board have fanned out to ticket truck operators who fail to comply with the state’s complicated schedule for reducing emissions from the small diesel engines that power transport refrigeration.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told a Senate subcommittee the Obama administration soon will unveil its plan to relaunch a cross-border trucking program along the U.S.-Mexico border.