Government

A bill that establishes new national standards for the distribution of prescription drugs and pharmaceuticals has been approved by Congress and is expected to be signed into law by President Obama.

The Alliance for Toll Free Interstates is recruiting members to join truck-stop operators, truckers and other highway users to fight attempts by states or Congress to toll existing interstate highways.

Minnesota has announced that 10 highway projects will be funded under the $300 million Corridors of Commerce program created this year to help improve freight mobility across the state.

The Federal Highway Administration unveiled Nov. 18 the draft of the nation’s first ever Primary Freight Network — 26,966 centerline miles of roadway deemed most critical to freight movement.

More than 80% of the carriers surveyed by the American Transportation Research Institute said they’ve suffered a loss in productivity since the new hours-of-service rule went into effect, changing the requirements for the 34-hour restart.

A bill has been introduced in the House and Senate that would dramatically reduce federal diesel and gasoline taxes and let the states keep most revenue from the two levies rather than sending the revenue to the Highway Trust Fund.

The Department of Transportation’s inspector general’s office and a congressional watchdog agency are examining how effective federal commercial vehicle regulators are at keeping bad operators off roads.

The average price of diesel fuel continued its gradual decline last week, dropping 2.5 cents to $3.832 a gallon, the lowest price in more than four months, the U.S. Department of Energy reported.