Business

A proposal to require electronic stability control systems in heavy vehicles has been sent to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review.

Supply chain software maker Robocom Systems International announced it acquired Wright Business Solutions. No terms were disclosed.

After years of tepid customer response to available collision-avoidance technologies, suppliers say they are racing to bring more systems to market as federal requirements, technology improvements and convincing test data have combined to stimulate demand at both the factory and aftermarket levels.

“Safety theatre” (for that’s what it surely is) makes all parties feel good while disguising the real issue: how to train drivers to use the new technologies without compromising safety.

Qualified diesel technicians are getting harder to find, a situation the transportation trade press has lamented for the past decade with headlines such as “Who Will Fix Your Trucks?”

Patrick Quinn was a lot of different things to different people. To trucking, he was a leader.

Despite reports about costly congestion and the deteriorating state of America’s roads and bridges, Congress failed for the third consecutive year to produce a long-term surface transportation spending plan.

State transportation departments desperate for money to pay for projects took steps toward imposing new tolls or increasing existing ones in 2011, often inviting disdain from the trucking industry.

The Senate Commerce Committee approved a bill to create a national freight program that its sponsors said would boost America’s global economic competitiveness, improve its mobility and promote energy conservation.

The federal government’s regulatory agenda held trucking’s attention throughout 2011, with proposals including a requirement for electronic onboard recorders on all trucks — and a plan to revise hours-of-service rules for truck drivers.