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The Virginia Department of Transportation closed 18 rest stops last week, despite an effort by U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) to amend federal law to allow the state to commercialize the rest areas.

Trucking groups hailed the decision by the National Conference on Weights and Measures not to proceed with proposals to regulate the temperature of retail fuel at the pump.

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee advanced the nominations of several other key administration officials to the full Senate on July 21, including the nomination of Deborah Hersman to lead the National Transportation Safety Board.

A Senate committee last week approved a bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration without a provision that would make it easier for some employees at FedEx Corp. to unionize.

WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats continued to spar over how best to address the nation’s road transportation needs, as the Senate and House moved on opposing paths.

U.S. retail diesel prices dropped 4.6 cents last week to $2.496 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported — the fourth straight decline — but rising crude oil costs will soon lead to a reversal of that trend, a department analyst predicted.

House Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.) said he was “deeply troubled” over a claim by truck safety inspectors that proposed legislation requiring the purging of flammable materials from tanker wetlines would be “difficult, if not impossible,” to enforce.

Concern about the possibility of legislative threats to the use of owner-operators has led American Trucking Associations to join a Washington, D.C., lobbying group.