Safety

Fleet operators said they were incrementally more satisfied with their heavy-duty truck engines compared with a year ago, market research and rankings firm J.D. Power and Associates said.

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. will buy BAF Technologies, a supplier of natural gas vehicle systems and conversion technology, for $8.3 million.

Over the past 25 years of running a freight brokerage operation, I have seen numerous commentaries in Transport Topics written by disappointed and disgruntled carriers putting down the brokerage industry.

The Department of Transportation will host a two-day summit this week on problems surrounding distracted driving and solutions to combat what has become a national epidemic.

WASHINGTON — Anne Ferro, President Obama’s choice to head the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, had her day before the Senate Commerce Committee last week as its members weighed her confirmation.

The recession, lower freight levels and job cuts at fleets have combined to push driver turnover at truckload carriers to the lowest level in 14 years during the second quarter, according to American Trucking Associations.

If manufacturers’ claims about the latest developments in cargo refrigeration units are correct, motor carriers now can haul fresh, frozen or deep-frozen loads for any distance with reefer-fuel savings of as much as 80%, compared with past costs — and with little or no reefer maintenance.

BALTIMORE — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has sent its final electronic onboard recorders rule to the U.S. Department of Transportation for review, acting agency Administrator Rose McMurray told Transport Topics last week.

The Senate has approved legislation that would increase the funding for the Department of Transportation in fiscal 2010 and would allow Maine to raise the truck weight on Interstate 95 as part of a pilot program.

CHICAGO — The economic downturn presents an opportunity for shippers to pare costs and strengthen transportation and distribution operations, industry experts said here at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals’ annual conference.