Government

The Commercial Vehicle Training Association presented its Highway Safety Hall of Fame Award to Warren Hoemann, senior vice president of industry affairs at American Trucking Associations.

While the U.S. economy continues to look better and better in many ways, there are some pretty powerful reasons for truckers to remain cautious, or at least watchful in the coming months.

Fueled by stronger manufacturing and demand for freight, the U.S. economy will grow at least at a 3.2% annual pace in 2011, and truck tonnage will rise 5%, according to several recent reports.

American Trucking Associations last week endorsed a federal proposal that trucking companies use electronic logging devices to monitor driver compliance with the hours-of-service rule.

Federal funding for highway projects and motor carrier safety programs will continue if the federal government shuts down after Friday, the Department of Transportation said.

Federal Reserve policy makers last month differed over whether to begin removing record stimulus this year as they debated the path of monetary policy after the completion of their $600 billion bond-purchase program.

Members of a key House panel began hearing proposals Tuesday from members of Congress about ways to fund a six-year highway reauthorization bill without exceeding Highway Trust Fund revenues that are mostly derived from federal gas and diesel taxes.

The U.S. economy’s service sector declined in March but still showed expansion, the Institute for Supply Management said Tuesday.

The new 70-mile-per-hour speed limit on the Ohio Turnpike, which the state’s trucking industry opposes, has taken effect, the Associated Press reported.