Business

Michael Jackson, deputy secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, will step down from his post Oct. 26, DHS said Monday.

The United Auto Workers called a strike against General Motors Monday in the first nationwide strike against the U.S. auto industry since 1976, the Associated Press reported.

Truck idling limits in Rhode Island, New Jersey and California are the newest restrictions in a growing list of regional regulations, according to a recent report published by the American Transportation Research Institute.

Volvo AB said its heavy truck deliveries for the first eight months of the year fell 4.4% worldwide, while North American deliveries plunged, Bloomberg reported Monday.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration filed a memorandum with a court in Washington Friday strongly supporting American Trucking Associations’ request that the court’s vacating of provisions of truck driver hours-of-service rules be stayed pending reconsideration by the agency.

PierPass Inc., which operates the off-peak program at Southern California ports, said the container terminals at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will require trucks to be equipped with TruckTags in order to gain access to the terminals, starting Dec. 1.

Hybrid drivetrains, combining diesel and electric power and developed by Eaton Corp., will be available in 2008 on medium-duty truck chassis made by Freightliner Corp., International Truck and Engine Corp. and Paccar’s DAF, Kenworth Truck Co. and Peterbilt Motors Co., according to several announcements by the manufacturers involved.

U.S. retail Class 8 truck sales continued their 2007 free fall in August, plunging 58.9% from last year, the fourth straight month sales have dropped more than 50%, Ward’s Communications said.

The current truck-driver hours-of-service rules — allowing 11 hours of driving and restarting a week after 34 hours of rest — are likely to remain in place for at least several more weeks.

Sharply contrasting with the U.S. drop, sales of heavy-duty trucks are booming in Europe as many fleets buy new models early to reap government incentives to adopt new emission technology before it becomes mandated.