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It’s hard to find anyone who can remember the last time the Federal Highway Administration held a ceremony to sign a new trucking regulation. Major laws of the land sometimes get that kind of special treatment at the White House or on Capitol Hill, virtually always in the glare of the spotlight, with the press in attendance. But to place his name on the regulation that will require reflective tape to be retrofitted to truck trailers, Federal Highway Administrator Kenneth Wykle chose to invite a select few to the Department of Transportation — and then close the doors. No press, no public.

In mid-March, the Truckload Carriers Association took a historic step and adopted a five-year strategic plan. TCA decided to revise its strategic plan because American Trucking Associations’ overall goal, spelled out in the Wren Commission’s report, is to make ATA “first in class” in solving common political problems, with truckload issues receiving a high priority.

United Parcel Service will soon be testing a hybrid engine that’s not as powerful as a locomotive but has the essential characteristics of a train’s power plant.

Plenty of uncertainty remains about the effects of the Year 2000 computer bug. But U.S. diesel engine manufacturers say they’re sure of one thing: Y2K won’t shut down their truck engines.

Keep a sharp eye on performance, shorten maintenance cycles and change the oil more frequently. hese recommendations from engine manufacturers could not be repeated enough at The Maintenance Council conference in mid-March.

The PLC4Trucks powerline protocol that will warn a driver of a faulty trailer antilock brake system was effective in tests and is expected to work on the road. But not all issues are resolved.

Is there an automatic transmission in your future?

Automated driver logs have been the talk of trucking since last April, when the government launched a test that uses satellites to monitor hours of service. But another type of automation is gaining momentum as well: log scanning.

The increasing demand for mobile communications in Europe is helping to fuel an explosion in the growth and spending for information technology and telecommunications services.

An information display has been developed that lets a driver monitor vehicle performance on a small screen built into his truck’s dashboard.