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While legislation in both houses of Congress creating a separate motor carrier administration is a dream come true for many in trucking, the proposals carry a myriad of other provisions.

Sen. John Breaux wants to improve truck and bus safety by requiring all commercial vehicle inspectors to be certified to uniform standards and proficiency levels.

Deregulation of the Mexican trucking industry over the last 10 years has lowered freight rates and expanded volume. But a Paris-based think tank says the nation’s improving international competitiveness will depend in part on the United States’ willingness to open the border.

It looks like freight rates will be going up again this fall. But one motor carrier rate bureau is floating a proposal for a smaller increase in return for a pledge from shippers not to seek additional discounts.

The merger of Sweden’s Volvo and Scania could be the catalyst for new consolidations among truck-makers – in the United States as well as abroad – some analysts believe.

With the clock ticking on her tenure, Surface Transportation Board Chairman Linda Morgan was nominated by President Clinton on Aug. 6 to a second term as head of the independent agency.

Despite a small but vocal contingent of opponents, there was widespread support for the reorganization efforts of American Trucking Associations at the annual meeting of state trucking association executives.

Comcar Industries announced the consolidation of Roseway Transportation, a dry van truckload carrier acquired in January, and Clay Hyder Trucking Lines, a refrigerated fleet that has been owned by Commercial Carrier Corp., a truckload and bulk carrier operating unit of Comcar.

USFreightways and FDC Corp. insist its just a coincidence. But with recent acquisitions, the game is on between two logistics providers seeking to tap Puerto Rico’s air freight forwarding market.

The word that the Department of Transportation is apparently at work on a revision of hours-of-service rules by reducing the number of hours drivers can be on the job has already sparked a flood of reaction inside and outside the industry.