Business

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said it no longer will be necessary after March 21 for freight forwarders and for-hire carriers to maintain a minimum level of insurance for cargo that is lost or damaged in transit.

WASHINGTON — American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves said the next long-term transportation funding bill may not pass until after the 2012 elections.

Choosing computers for mechanics to use in the maintenance shop requires a fleet — be it municipal or over-the-road — to weigh factors ranging from the mundane to the highbrow.

Efforts to block changes in hours-of-service proposed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration gained steam last week as the closing of the agency’s comment period on the proposal approached.

New Class 8 truck orders in North America jumped more than 200% in February to about 24,000 units, the fourth month in a row of 24,000 orders or more, market researchers ACT Research Co. and FTR Associates said in separate reports.

TAMPA — “If you’d have told me 20 years ago I’d be general chairman, I’d have told you you was crazy,” said Roy Gambrell, incoming general chairman of the Technology & Maintenance Council, who began his career repairing equipment on the family farm.

The U.S. and Mexico agreed last week on a deal that would allow Mexican trucks to deliver to destinations in the United States and lead Mexico to drop $2.4 billion a year in retaliatory tariffs it has imposed on U.S. products.

Truck driver training schools face a potentially crippling loss of revenue following a vote in Congress that could eliminate federal funding of job training grants.

The federal standard for underride guards on trucks and trailers is inadequate and should be upgraded to protect the drivers of vehicles that crash into the rear of trucks, an insurance safety advocacy group said last week.

U.S. retail fuel prices shot up last week as petroleum closed above $100 a barrel for the first time since September 2008 and as unrest in Libya and the Middle East left people in trucking wondering how high prices might go and how long they might stay there.