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I own a small motor carrier and drive as well. In the past 38 years, I have driven trucks all across the United States, both regional and cross country, and I am reaching the end of my career with more than 3 million safe miles covered.

It is a distinct honor to be able to represent America’s motor carriers and the employees and independent contractors working on behalf of those companies.   I have appreciated the leadership that has been provided by Barbara Windsor, Tommy Hodges and all the fine chairmen who have preceded them.

While it’s certainly hard to single out just one “most important” accomplishment at the recent ATA Management Conference & Exhibition, the new alliance with the Truckload Carriers Association on truck weights is certainly a contender.

GRAPEVINE, Texas — Most trucking companies are currently doing better than the U.S. economy as a whole, and that should continue because a second, or double-dip, recession is unlikely, a panel of economists said.

GRAPEVINE, Texas — Despite economic uncertainty and political turmoil, the trucking industry is poised for better days ahead, Bill Graves, American Trucking Associations president and chief executive officer, said last week.

All states now receive more funding for highway programs than they contribute to the Highway Trust Fund via federal fuel taxes and truck excise taxes, said a new study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

GRAPEVINE, Texas — Fleets should prepare to bring the same zest to future challenges that they have used to overcome the struggling economy, fuel prices and government regulations in recent years, four industry leaders said.

GRAPEVINE, Texas — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s top official said the agency is working feverishly to complete a controversial final hours-of-service rule, but trucking executives predicted last week that FMCSA won’t finish by an Oct. 28 deadline set by a U.S. court.

GRAPEVINE, Texas — American Trucking Associations and the Truckload Carriers Association last week created a united front in the industry’s drive to raise truck weight limits by endorsing both an 88,000-pound limit for 5-axle tractor-trailers and a 97,000-pound limit for 6-axle configurations.

GRAPEVINE, Texas — Intermodal truckers are seeing painfully slow progress on two long-standing and related issues — changes in the providers of chassis for container shipments and effective implementation of federal chassis safety rules, industry officials reported.