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The leading proponent in the House for increasing weight limits for trucks is hopeful a majority in Congress will back his effort in 2017.

An expansive fiscal 2016 funding bill that avoids a shutdown of the federal government offered a significant victory for the trucking industry by extending the suspension of the hours-of-service restart rule, but it did not include language to allow twin 33-foot trailers nationwide.

Trucking firms may find clues on how to improve the way they recruit and retain drivers by relying on the findings of comprehensive surveys and feedback from drivers, according to analysts with Stay Metrics, an Indiana-based consulting firm.

A review of an hours-of-service restart rule will take longer to complete under guidelines Congress approved in an expansive fiscal 2016 funding bill Dec. 18.

A provision that would have authorized the use of twin 33-foot trailers nationwide did not make the final version of a large fiscal 2016 bill that would fund the federal government through September.

WASHINGTON��— Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said her congressional colleagues should use the next five years to come up with a long-term funding fix for transportation projects.

Congress��approved a final version of a five-year, $305 billion highway reauthorization bill that would call on trucking regulators to fix a controversial safety performance scoring program for motor carriers long criticized by industry leaders.