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In this afternoon's headlines: Resurging fuel prices an outrage, says Teamsters' Hoffa; Truckers on the road can expect some cuts in phone costs; As economy taps its brakes, will interest rates soon stop rising?; Frozen food express amends financing pact; Investment firm to buy truck stop operator TravelCenters; Delia Moon Meier: A natural for the truck stop business; and The business of moving oversized loads.

The U.S. Department of Transportation, concerned by lack of response, is considering scrapping a June 6 public hearing in Illinois on that state' commercial driver license program.

In this morning's headlines:Illinois CDL bribe money went to political fundraisers, witness says; Georgia quick to ticket overweight trucks, slow to fine; Drivers for mail-hauling contractor vote to unionize; and Truckers extend highway blockades down under.

In an industry like trucking, which is famous for its tenuous profit margins, cutting expenses has become a fine art. Nearly every dollar that can be shaved from the cost column shows up in the net earnings column, so commercial motor carriers large and small have found inventive ways of taking expenses that at one time looked “fixed” — and unfixing them.

The availability of vehicle inspection and accident data on the Internet from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is beginning to play a bigger role in determining who qualifies for insurance coverage.

It has been a good year for Doug Lauer. The chief information officer for Allied Holdings had already been honored as Georgia’s top CIO, and now he has been named the information technology professional of the year by the Information Technology and Logistics Council and Transport Technology Today magazine.

Truckers may cruise Interstate 25 without stopping at a scalehouse now that the highway has become the first major trucking corridor in the nation to be completely wired for electronic weigh station bypass, according to state authorities.

The Department of Transportation's proposed hours-of-service rules would mean more trucks, lower driver pay and no real gain in safety, trucking industry groups said during the May 31 hearing over the controversial trucker drive-time issue.

In this afternoon's headlines: Truckers warn DOT that the proposed drive-hours rule would hurt the economy; Trucking company linked to scandal; Refrigerated carriers call for higher rates; Truck accident at Canadian border prompts calls for faster entry; Modesto, Calif. forum calls for better routes for delivery trucks; and Company offers device to keep moisture out of tires.

The Environmental Protection Agency and American Trucking Associations will face off in the U.S. Supreme Court on how air pollution standards are set.