Safety

A funny thing happened just as some fleets were discussing reducing their fuel surcharges: Prices went flying again. Since Jan. 26, after five straight weekly increases, the average retail price of diesel is $2.626 a gallon, and climbing.

Rail intermodal traffic rose 8.9% last week but carload traffic fell 0.9% as overall volume reached its highest level this year, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday.

The U.S. Transportation Department’s transportation services index fell 0.6% in January following a one-month increase in December, DOT said Wednesday.

Surface trade among the United States, Canada and Mexico jumped 8.9% last year over 2005 levels, the Department of Transportation said Tuesday.

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor. There is a lot more traffic and a lot more going on behind the wheel other than turning it, with cellphones, Global Positioning System and onboard computers.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), author of the rules Congress set for opening the U.S. border to Mexican trucks, told Transportation Secretary Mary Peters she suspected the agency may be stacking the deck in its recently announced pilot program.

FMCSA Names Safety Committees • Highway Watch Debuts Online Training • Insurance Co. Not Liable in Conn. Crash

A coalition of trucking safety groups issued a report this week giving poor grades to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for failing to do enough to reduce large truck-related fatalities.

Safety-watchdog group Public Citizen said Tuesday it sued the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on behalf of a highway safety organization to compel the agency to release information about recent decision to allow Mexican trucks onto U.S. highways.