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The struggles of the nation’s trucking fleet to attract and retain qualified drivers have been well-documented in the pages of Transport Topics for many years now.

It took a while to happen, but it appears at first glance that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration did a pretty good job with the electronic logging device proposal that is due for official publication on March 17.

Signs are increasing that the nation’s economic health is steadily improving. It’s not a barnburner, and there is still some uncertainty, as the Commerce Department trimmed its estimate of fourth-quarter 2013 growth to an annual rate of 2.4% from 3.2% in an earlier estimate.

President Obama took some time to talk about trucks and trucking last week, and while standing among some Class 8s, he observed: “Trucks like these are responsible for about 20% of our on-road fuel consumption, and because they haul about 70% of all domestic freight — 70% of the stuff we use, everything from flat-screen TVs to diapers to produce to you-name-it — every mile that we gain in fuel efficiency is worth thousands of dollars of savings every year.”

We were disappointed — but not surprised — that Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) said he would not support an increase in federal fuel taxes to fund the nation’s aging highway system. Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, made the comments at an infrastructure event in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 4.

Perhaps in addition to reviewing trucking companies’ financial performance, it would be worthwhile to measure such things as the health of their drivers.

Two hundred thirty-six. That is how many truck occupants died in highway crashes during 2012 who were not wearing a safety belt, according to the federal government.