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As you’ve heard it said many times, “Without Trucks, America Stops.” And it’s still true. Unfortunately, the trucking industry’s primary advocate has had to formally remind the Department of Transportation of this salient fact.

ARLINGTON, Va. — American Trucking Associations’ image trailer visited ATA headquarters in late April before rolling to the U.S. Capitol for the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association’s Ride ’n’ Drive event for federal officials, staff and the public.

The tank truck industry faces a unique set of challenges that have led to increased regulations, self-imposed safety precautions and higher costs. Industry executives said they are adjusting by embracing new technology, providing additional driver training and re-examining their operations. 

The chairman of a House Transportation subcommittee has vowed to investigate truck lease-purchase agreements between owner-operators and motor carriers who hire the drayage drivers to move cargo at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif.

YRC Worldwide Inc. reported a first-quarter loss of $274.1 million, nearly the same as a year earlier, but the less-than-truckload carrier cited steady progress in reducing operational losses in the most recent period.

Frustrated with recent public comments by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and other Department of Transportation officials, American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves lashed out at policies and statements that he said tilt the playing field away from trucks and toward rail transport.

Navistar International Corp. announced that it has resolved its lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which had challenged EPA’s guidance to engine makers for certification of 2010 engines using selective catalytic reduction to cut emissions.

Less-than-truckload carriers as a group posted solid volume gains and stabilized their shaky revenue environment in the first months of 2010, experts said.

After facing off in federal court in Los Angeles last month, attorneys for American Trucking Associations and the Port of Los Angeles are expected to file their final post-trial briefs this week in the contentious court dispute over parts of the port’s clean trucks program.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has broad support for its move to bar truck drivers from texting, according to public comments on the proposed rule filed with the agency.