A lack of information-sharing between two Department of Transportation agencies with safety responsibilities is jeopardizing the safety of hazardous materials shipments, the head of the freight brokers’ trade association said.

House Transportation Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) said last week that he would not introduce a transportation reauthorization bill until next year, dashing hopes of proponents to get a bill through to replace the funding that expired in 2009.

American Trucking Associations and its affiliate in Alabama are at odds over the state’s certification requirement for truck drivers who transport metal coil, with the national federation arguing that the regulation should not be enforced and the state association supporting the requirement.

The West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles announced Tuesday that trucking companies can now purchase 10-day trip permits online.

A Louisiana judge rejected a challenge to the state’s anti-indemnification law, saying the Louisiana Chemical Association had no grounds for its lawsuit in which the group called the statute unconstitutional.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the nation could face cuts in transportation infrastructure funding after the Congressional supercommittee’s failure to reach an agreement on deficit reduction.

Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives said they would introduce a five-year highway funding bill that would be paid for by expanded domestic oil drilling.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee last week approved a transportation bill that would authorize $84 billion in highway spending over two years, the first such measure to move in Congress since the previous funding legislation expired in 2009.

Transportation advocates said they were not surprised that Senate Republicans blocked President Obama’s $60 billion infrastructure proposal earlier this month, and they see it as an opportunity for Congress to focus on a long-term highway reauthorization bill.

Truckers who purchase vehicles powered by natural gas could reap federal tax credits of up to $64,000 a truck under a bill already introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and expected to be introduced soon in the Senate.