Complex federal regulation of diesel-engine emissions and driver hours-of-service is pushing more private fleets to increase their use of leased trucks, industry observers said, and leasing executives said they anticipate even better business when the 2007 round of emissions regulation gets under way.

The president of the American Moving and Storage Association said the April 5 starting date for a piece of federal consumer regulation is “unworkable” and that the companies he represents would not implement all of the rule’s provisions.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it planned in April to issue its long-awaited stopping-distance rule for trucks, a regulation that could have major ramifications for trucking, especially if it necessitated significant design changes such as disc brakes, industry officials said.

The online database the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration uses to target fleets for safety reviews has major accuracy problems and should be used only for internal purposes until fixed, according to the Department of Transportation’s inspector general.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said it plans to release about 17 new regulations this year, making a significant dent in a several-year-long backlog of outstanding rules that had drawn criticism from Congress and safety groups.

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency and 15 freight shippers and motor carriers jointly launched “SmartWay Transport” — a partnership between the agency and freight haulers to increase fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse gases emissions — at American Trucking Associations’ winter meeting Feb. 9.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Truck stop owners gathered here for their annual convention celebrated the removal of language from the federal highway reauthorization bill that would have permitted the commercialization of rest areas on Interstates and said fighting similar proposals remains its top legislative priority this year.

Just as trucking executives were warning that new drivers’ workday hours regulations that took effect Jan. 4 could cause truckload carriers to need many more drivers, a study by American Trucking Associations showed that truckload driver turnover rose sharply in the third quarter of 2003.

U.S. sales of heavy-duty trucks rose 4.2% in November compared with the same month a year earlier, posting a moderate gain from what was a strong month in 2002 when truck makers were still seeing leftover “pre-buy” demand for engines built before new federal emissions rules took effect that October.

The Department of Transportation and the National Industrial Transportation League joined other transportation organizations in opposing the Southern Motor Carriers Rate Conference’s request for nationwide ratemaking authority, raising broader objections to collective ratemaking in general.