AUSTIN, Texas — Teletrac Inc. will supply electronic monitoring devices in Mexican trucks participating in the cross-border trucking pilot program set to begin soon, a federal official announced.

Truck drivers should be prohibited from talking and texting on phones while driving, no matter whether they use hands-free devices, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday.

The trucking industry is criticizing a federal regulation issued last week that will require employers to hang posters informing workers about their rights to form and join unions.

Trucking industry, government and safety representatives told a Senate panel that federal regulators could improve motor carrier safety by raising the bar for new carriers entering the industry, among other policy changes.

A commission appointed by Pennsylvania’s governor has endorsed a plan to raise $2.7 billion annually for transportation by increasing fees, shifting programs to other departments and other cost savings.

A Minnesota special master has decided to keep the state’s highway rest areas and commercial driver’s license credentialing closed during the state government shutdown, said John Hausladen, president of the Minnesota Trucking Association.

American Trucking Associations and the Louisiana Motor Transport Association have filed a brief supporting Louisiana’s anti-indemnification law against a lawsuit that calls it unconstitutional.

A new, higher speed limit in Kansas could cause safety problems if trucks are governed at lower speeds than the new limit, the head of the state’s trucking association said.

Maine’s legislature has approved a two-year, $637 million transportation funding bill that would end annual fuel tax increases tied to inflation beginning next year.

The Oregon legislature approved a measure that would restrict truck idling while also preventing local governments from implementing their own anti-idling regulations.   Under the legislation, trucks would not be allowed to idle their engines for more than five minutes in a 60-minute period.