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This afternoon's headlines: American Freightways plans terminal near Utica, N.Y.; NHTSA raises Firestone tire death toll to 148; Visteon warns of sharply lower 4Q earnings; and more.

Mexico won an important victory in its bid to force the U.S. to open its roads to Mexican truckers under the North American Free Trade Agreement when an arbitration panel issued a preliminary decision in Mexico’s favor.

A federal judge has ruled that vehicle leasing arrangements between Ledar Transport, a Missouri-based truckload carrier, and some of its drivers violated federal truth-in-leasing regulations.

Shipping freight by air is both expensive and indispensable. These two facts illustrate why the airfreight industry is simultaneously expanding and contracting.

A new federal law enables state and local governments to go after trucking operations and drivers who illegally boost the power of their citizen band radios. President Clinton signed the legislation Nov. 22.

FedEx Corp. Chairman Frederick W. Smith is a persistent suitor. It took him more than two years of courting the Garrison family to convince them to sell him American Freightways, the company they founded in 1982.

The Society of Automotive Engineers is hoping that discussions of vehicle safety and more general business transportation issues will broaden interest in the engineering association’s annual meeting here this week.

Every motor carrier will have to update its MCS-150 identification report to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration every two years instead of merely filing it once when beginning business.

Dorsey Trailers, whose roots go back to 1911, has stopped making new trailers at all three of its manufacturing plants and is considering filing for bankruptcy protection.

The price of diesel fuel rose 1.8 cents last week, the third consecutive increase — and a trucking industry analyst said strong demand for distillates will force further increases regardless of the weather.