Safety

WASHINGTON — Representatives of trucking and shippers urged Congress to increase truck size and weight limits, but the chairman of the House transportation committee said he opposed longer combination vehicles and had doubts about raising weight limits.

American Trucking Associations asked Congress to implement a comprehensive plan to address the soaring price of diesel fuel and ensures an affordable fuel supply for the nation’s 3.5 million truck drivers.

The Department of Transportation said Friday it is making $1 million available immediately to Wisconsin to help pay for urgent repairs to roads and bridges damaged by recent floods.

Cargo ships would have to reduce their emissions under federal legislation approved by Congress, which President Bush is expected to sign into law, the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper reported Wednesday.

A group representing owner-operators said it will challenge the legality of recently passed legislation in Ontario mandating speed limiters on trucks to cap speeds at 65 miles per hour in the Canadian province.

Covenant Transportation Group said it completed the first step in refinancing its long-term debt, including a secured revenue equipment financing agreement with Daimler Truck Financial for about $200 million.

WASHINGTON — Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC demonstrated here the automatic braking system for heavy-duty trucks it will offer starting in the fourth quarter.

California clean-air regulators propose to force all older highway trucks running within state boundaries to be retrofitted first with diesel particulate filters, costing $8,000 to $20,000 and more, and then with equipment that reduces output of nitrogen oxides, in a complicated, staggered schedule in effect from 2010 through 2022.