Oregon’s budget deficit is approaching $2 billion at the same time that its Department of Transportation says it needs another $545 million a year just to maintain the state’s roads and bridges.

A statewide panel charged with assessing Oregon's future transportation needs found the ability to handle a Cascadia subduction zone earthquake a top priority across the state.

The City Council in Portland, Oregon, will consider a four-year, heavy-vehicle use tax when it meets May 4, with a vote likely to come the following week. The tax would add 2.8% to the tax bills of trucking firms that have a Portland business license. Trucks already pay a weight-mile tax in Oregon, which doesn’t have a diesel fuel tax. 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Maintenance information provider Mitchell 1 announced an update to the interface between its RepairConnect diagnostic troubleshooting tool and Noregon’s JPRO Professional commercial fleet diagnostics software.

The Federal Highway Administration has made $2 million in emergency relief funds available to the transportation departments in Oregon and Washington in the wake of the string of severe storms that began in the Pacific Northwest on Dec. 7.

Debra Dunn has stepped down as president of the Oregon Trucking Associations and is being replaced on an interim basis by Bob Russell, OTA’s former legislative affairs director.