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While the attention of the nation was focused for much of the year on the costly and protracted presidential election campaign, trucking probably will look back on 2012 as a turning point for the adoption of natural gas as a viable alternative fuel for heavy-duty fleets.

Funding for roads and bridges continued to be the overriding issue for states in 2012 as transportation officials sought new ways to raise revenue.

Ron Medford, a top highway safety regulator in the federal government, has been hired by Google Inc. to help it develop self-driving cars.

An index of leading economic indicators rose 0.2% in October, the New York-based Conference Board said Wednesday.

Federal regulators will hold a listening session next month to gather input on their efforts to require training for entry-level commercial drivers.

Steve Owings, president of Road Safe America, has been named chairman of the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee, which advises federal officials on truck and bus safety issues.

U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee and the second-longest serving senator in U.S. history, died Monday at the age of 88.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has ordered an alleged reincarnated Murfreesboro, N.C., recycled steel and roofing shingles motor carrier to immediately cease all operations due to a pattern of serious safety violations that pose an “imminent hazard to public safety.”

John Hill, the former administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, will lead Indiana’s Department of 91��Ƶland Security in January, Gov.-elect Mike Pence (R) announced.