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As the use of mapping and routing software becomes more prevalent across the trucking industry, service providers and state transportation officials said fleets must be wary of the risks posed from using applications not specifically designed for trucks.

The Mexican government is preparing to change the list of U.S. products that will be subjected to higher tariffs in retaliation for the continued lockout of that nation’s truck fleets, sources told Transport Topics last week.

The Department of Transportation said Thursday that the number of overall traffic fatalities reported at the end of 2009 reached the lowest level since 1954, declining for the 15th consecutive quarter.

The shipping industry in the United States has the opportunity in the next 18 months to dramatically improve its efficiency and ability to compete in the global economy.

The American Transportation Research Institute said it is seeking data from motor carriers for a study of the impacts of hours-of-service rules.

A proposed federal rule that triples to $3,000 the annual registration fee for large motor carriers who haul hazardous materials but maintains a $300 fee for small carriers places an unfair burden on large carriers, American Trucking Associations said.

Several U.S. senators have criticized the Obama administration’s plan to use $4 billion to create a new national infrastructure bank to help finance transportation projects, questioning how the bank would operate and whether rural projects would lose funding to larger urban areas.

Nearly 90 proposals in 24 states and Congress would “undercut” independent contractor classification and subject carriers using owner-operators to “greater scrutiny and exposure,” according to a new American Trucking Associations’ owner-operator classification alert.