Safety

Provisions that would have allowed states to permit larger, heavier trucks on interstate highways were voted down last week, just days after the highway reauthorization bill containing the measures was introduced in the House of Representatives.

Florida state police were investigating a huge weekend pileup on Interstate 75 near Gainesville, Fla., that killed 10 people as cars and trucks drove into dense fog and smoke, and a section of the highway remained closed Monday, news services reported.

The federal government’s chief truck overseer defended her agency’s controversial changes to the 34-hour restart provisions of the hours-of-service rule and vowed to continue efforts to cut the hours drivers may be behind the wheel.

Trucking industry adoption of onboard anti-collision systems appears to be gaining steam after years of resistance, according to industry officials.

Meritor WABCO said truckload carrier Schneider National has ordered more than 2,500 units of its OnGuard Collision Safety System as standard equipment for new Class 8 trucks it plans to purchase this year.

Hostess Brands, the maker of Twinkies snack cakes and Wonder bread, filed for bankruptcy Wednesday, less than three years after completing an earlier restructuring.

Brokers and carriers said that the federal Safety Management System, or SMS, that is used to score carrier performance is causing them to lose business by unfairly tainting fleet safety records.

Several key air and ground transportation issues are pressing before Congress, but lawmakers have only a few working days this month in which to address them.

Claiming that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s safety scoring system is unfair, a prominent freight broker and a transport attorney are pursuing multiple steps to stifle the agency’s Safety Management System.

Trucking executives said the industry could see some benefits of the recently announced U.S.-Canadian trade agreement as early as this year.