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The national average diesel fuel price slipped less than a penny to $1.411 a gallon on June 12, as diesel continued its slow downward trend from the record highs reached three months ago.

The Senate listened to reason and voted last week to prohibit the Department of Transportation from finalizing its misguided hours-of-service proposal.

In his 1996 and 1998 campaigns for Teamsters president, James Hoffa promised to restore Teamsters pride and to “restore the power.” Through good PR and visibility on some issues, he can claim some success on the “pride” promise. But he certainly hasn’t delivered any power to Teamsters members.

Trucking stocks continued their slide from 1999 through the first half of 2000, but industry executives and market analysts suggested that in the coming months companies might find a floor on which to land and may even begin to rebound.

Three business studies released this spring suggest that the fierce competition between United Parcel Service and FedEx Corp. is making shippers happy and providing other carriers with an excellent tutorial on how to use electronic commerce.

Class 8 truck sales took a hit in May, the second month in a row sales have been down.

Carriers that know their costs and value will thrive regardless of changes brought on by electronic commerce, according to Robert Obee, chief information officer for Roadway Express.

Proposed changes to the hours-of-service regulations would cause increased pollution, road rage and divorces but fail to accomplish the stated goal of improving highway safety, according to testimony at a June 15 hearing.

Anthony McMahon is taking his fight with the Department of Transportation’s inspector general to a higher court.

A changing focus of government regulations toward safety issues rather than productivity and operations will require a new approach by maintenance professionals as well as new technology, The Maintenance Council members were told during their summer meeting, June 12-14.