Crashes involving trucks in Minnesota declined 4% in 2011 compared with 2010 and the number of fatalities dropped 45%, according to the latest annual truck crash report released this month by the state’s Department of Public Safety.

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.

Highway fatalities fell last year to the lowest rate per miles driven since such record-keeping began in 1921, the Associated Press reported, citing U.S. government data.

Trucking continues to be the dominant mode of freight transportation in the United States, with the industry hauling 67% of all freight in 2011, American Trucking Associations said in its latest edition of “American Trucking Trends.”

The rate at which fatalities occurred in truck-involved crashes increased 9.4% in 2010 from the previous year’s all-time low, according to an analysis of Department of Transportation mileage data made public last week.

American Trucking Associations said last week that Prasad Sharma has been promoted to general counsel and senior vice president.

Prasad Sharma has been promoted to senior vice president and general counsel of American Trucking Associations, ATA said Monday.

Robert Digges Jr., vice president and chief counsel for American Trucking Associations and a top attorney for ATA’s Litigation Center, is retiring from his post effective Jan. 27, ATA announced last week.

A federal judge rejected a request by Navistar Inc. to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to recall all 2010 trucks with selective catalytic reduction engines.

With membership up, the grip of recession loosening and a healthier if leaner budget, American Trucking Associations ends 2011 reflective of the carriers that make up its ranks, ATA President Bill Graves said.