Trucking Industry United States

An investigation into last year's record cocaine seizure at a Sylmar warehouse shows that Colombian drug cartels have shipped vast quantities of cocaine along America's interstate highway system despite law enforcement efforts to choke it off, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Federal safety officials are considering a trucking industry proposal to allow people as young as 18 to drive big rigs in interstate commerce to help ease a critical shortage of drivers. Federal rules require that truckers must be at least 21 to haul cargo across state lines. The industry is proposing a three-year pilot program that, if successful, could lead to permanently lowering the age limit for truckers. Insurance industry and safety groups oppose the plan.

The Clinton administration's bid to change Depression-era regulations that allow tired truckers to stay on the road is in danger of being scuttled by Congress. An industry outcry and a federal agency's missteps have combined to threaten reforms that safety experts say are long overdue. Truck collisions remain the most feared of highway crashes, claiming more than 5,000 lives a year, with 75% of those victims in cars and other passenger vehicles.

Federal Express Corp. on Monday agreed to buy the trucking company Caliber System Inc. for about $2.4 billion in stock, expanding FedEx's ability to compete with package delivery rivals like United Parcel Service of America Inc. The deal comes as Atlanta-based UPS is still feeling some effects from a strike this summer by 185,000 Teamsters. UPS had estimated that it lost 5% of its customers and $600 million in revenue during the strike.

GOP congressional leaders yielded to trucking industry lobbyists and killed a plan that would have strengthened oversight of truck safety, a Republican lawmaker charged Wednesday. The provision, which was dropped from the omnibus appropriations measure signed into law Wednesday, would have moved truck inspections from a road-building agency to a traffic safety agency. "I believe safety will be diminished and lives will be lost" because the provision was dropped, said its author, Rep. Frank R.

In the most concrete victory yet for labor interests opposed to the North American Free Trade Agreement, the House has voted to levy severe financial penalties on Mexican shipping companies whose trucks venture more than a short distance inside the United States. The legislation was attached at the last minute to a motor vehicle safety bill that was passed on a 415-5 vote last week.

In an early practical use of "smart" highway technology, a group of public agencies and California technology companies will announce today their plan to develop an electronic system to speed commercial trucks across the U.S.-Mexico border without stopping. Trucks planning to cross the border would be cleared in advance by inspectors, with cargo information stored in an electronic system on the vehicle.

In a move that pleased labor groups, outraged the U.S. trucking industry and upset the Mexican government, the Clinton administration on Monday postponed implementation of new trade provisions that were to give U.S. and Mexican truckers greater access to each other's turf. On the day that border barriers to trucking were to have come down, U.S.

Radar detectors are now illegal nationwide for drivers of some 3.5 million large commercial trucks and buses. The Transportation Department regulation that took effect Wednesday applies to trucks weighing at least 10,000 pounds or those carrying hazardous materials, as well as to any bus designed for 16 or more passengers. The department announced the ban in December, 1993.

There's something about rock 'n' roll music and the darkened cab of an 18-wheeler lumbering down the highway at night--head-knocking riffs from Aerosmith, Deep Purple and guitar god George Thorogood. For Norman Thorne, it inspires an urge to play air guitar behind the wheel of his big rig, shouting lyrics into the darkness that mingle with the drawling banter of the CB radio boys and the steady beep of his dashboard radar detector.

The Supreme Court said Friday it will consider restoring the power of cities and counties to regulate tow truck drivers to prevent them from charging exorbitant rates or snatching illegally parked cars. Dozens of major cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, St. Louis and Philadelphia, have adopted such laws over the last 30 years. Tow truck operators are required to obtain city permits and follow basic rules.

Federal safety officials are considering a trucking industry proposal to allow people as young as 18 to drive big rigs in interstate commerce to help ease a critical shortage of drivers. Federal rules require that truckers must be at least 21 to haul cargo across state lines. The industry is proposing a three-year pilot program that, if successful, could lead to permanently lowering the age limit for truckers. Insurance industry and safety groups oppose the plan.

The Clinton administration's bid to change Depression-era regulations that allow tired truckers to stay on the road is in danger of being scuttled by Congress. An industry outcry and a federal agency's missteps have combined to threaten reforms that safety experts say are long overdue. Truck collisions remain the most feared of highway crashes, claiming more than 5,000 lives a year, with 75% of those victims in cars and other passenger vehicles.

The Mexican trucking industry called on its government Tuesday to ban U.S. trucks from entering Mexico if the United States continues to block Mexican trucks from U.S. highways in defiance of the 6-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement. Under the NAFTA accord, the United States should have opened its borders Jan. 1 to Mexican trucks carrying international cargo. However, the Clinton administration has refused to allow Mexican trucks to transport cargo to U.S.

In the most concrete victory yet for labor interests opposed to the North American Free Trade Agreement, the House has voted to levy severe financial penalties on Mexican shipping companies whose trucks venture more than a short distance inside the United States. The legislation was attached at the last minute to a motor vehicle safety bill that was passed on a 415-5 vote last week.

GOP congressional leaders yielded to trucking industry lobbyists and killed a plan that would have strengthened oversight of truck safety, a Republican lawmaker charged Wednesday. The provision, which was dropped from the omnibus appropriations measure signed into law Wednesday, would have moved truck inspections from a road-building agency to a traffic safety agency. "I believe safety will be diminished and lives will be lost" because the provision was dropped, said its author, Rep. Frank R.

Federal Express Corp. on Monday agreed to buy the trucking company Caliber System Inc. for about $2.4 billion in stock, expanding FedEx's ability to compete with package delivery rivals like United Parcel Service of America Inc. The deal comes as Atlanta-based UPS is still feeling some effects from a strike this summer by 185,000 Teamsters. UPS had estimated that it lost 5% of its customers and $600 million in revenue during the strike.

In a move that pleased labor groups, outraged the U.S. trucking industry and upset the Mexican government, the Clinton administration on Monday postponed implementation of new trade provisions that were to give U.S. and Mexican truckers greater access to each other's turf. On the day that border barriers to trucking were to have come down, U.S.

In an early practical use of "smart" highway technology, a group of public agencies and California technology companies will announce today their plan to develop an electronic system to speed commercial trucks across the U.S.-Mexico border without stopping. Trucks planning to cross the border would be cleared in advance by inspectors, with cargo information stored in an electronic system on the vehicle.

There's something about rock 'n' roll music and the darkened cab of an 18-wheeler lumbering down the highway at night--head-knocking riffs from Aerosmith, Deep Purple and guitar god George Thorogood. For Norman Thorne, it inspires an urge to play air guitar behind the wheel of his big rig, shouting lyrics into the darkness that mingle with the drawling banter of the CB radio boys and the steady beep of his dashboard radar detector.