Business

With the House seemingly unable to agree on a new federal transportation funding program, Congress voted last week to extend existing funding levels for another 90 days, averting a shutdown of the nation’s highway safety and construction programs.

Changes to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s safety ratings program that place additional emphasis on hazardous materials handling are apparently causing a steep spike in scores of some carriers with otherwise “exemplary” safety records, an executive with American Trucking Associations said last week.

Truck tonnage posted a solid 5.5% gain in February from a year earlier, American Trucking Associations reported, continuing a pattern of steady growth that began in late 2009 and setting the stage for further expansion.

With demand for diesel exhaust fluid expected to double this year, truck stops and carriers say they are responding by installing bulk filling dispensers that will save fleets time and money.

Devices that electronically limit the top speed of trucks have “profound” safety benefits and significantly reduce speeding-related accidents, a federally sponsored study released last week found.

SAN ANTONIO — An official with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said the agency will begin soon to count some chassis safety violations against truckers, the next step toward full implementation of federal chassis safety rules.

SAN ANTONIO — The Transportation Intermediaries Association has launched a broad offensive to reduce brokers’ liability in accident cases by using judicial, legislative and regulatory approaches.

U.S. retail diesel prices edged up a half-cent a gallon last week, continuing a nine-week string of increases and bringing the national average to $4.147 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported.

Fleet management software company Telogis Inc. said it has acquired Maptuit, a provider of commercial vehicle navigation technology. Terms were not disclosed.