Business

Recent advances in rubber compounding processes have helped make tires more durable and fuel efficient, according to manufacturers who compare the techniques to the culinary arts.

Multi-axle vehicles including heavy-duty trucks will be paying higher tolls to cross San Francisco area bridges starting July 1, the Vallejo (Calif.) Times Herald reported.

FedEx Corp. will sell the Japanese operations of its Office unit, the retail business formerly known as Kinko’s, to Konica Minolta Holdings, Bloomberg reported.

There was some interesting advice offered by two of our industry’s best-known economists last week to fleet executives who were attending the National Tank Truck Carriers annual conference in San Francisco.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration continues to be dead set on forcing every commercial vehicle in the United States to carry an electronic onboard recorder — better known as an EOBR — despite the device’s hefty price tag and general uselessness as a safety tool.

ARLINGTON, Va. — American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves blasted federal lawmakers in a recent speech, telling an audience of a shippers’ association here that the upcoming election has halted the legislative process and Republicans’ pushes to decrease the federal role in transportation are missing the mark, among other criticisms.

CHENNAI, India — The world’s largest commercial vehicle maker, Daimler AG, is making one of its biggest-ever bets by pouring $850 million into production and sales operations here, in what is now the world’s fastest-growing market for trucks and buses.

Royce Brooks, an experienced tank truck driver, was hauling gasoline to Lockhart, Texas, south of Austin, when a BMW driver blew through a stop sign and a flashing red light.

The decline in truck orders — including the 55% drop last month compared with a year ago and declines in the previous three months — represents a “pause” in the fleet replenishment process rather than a sign of fundamental market weakness, several analysts and dealers have said.

SAN FRANCISCO — Two of trucking’s leading economists said last week the industry’s economic recovery was well under way and should continue for at least several more years.