Government

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) signed into law a measure that increases the penalty for drivers who cause injury or death to others in a crash caused by distracted driving.

A Massachusetts trucking company owner was sentenced to one year of probation and a fine of $1,000 for paying a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration safety inspector $1,000 to produce a false report.

The Senate confirmed Debra Miller to sit on the three-member Surface Transportation Board for a term that expires in December 2017.

WASHINGTON — Trucking executives from Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Ohio asked members of their congressional delegation here April 9 to help roll back provisions of a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rule that imposes limits on truckers’ work schedules.

Trucking fleet failures more than doubled in the first quarter from a year earlier as rising costs, regulatory burdens and inclement weather sank marginal fleets, a new report found.

Federal regulators should develop a separate standard for natural gas-powered vehicles when they finalize the second phase of the government’s emissions reduction and fuel-efficiency standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks, according to a new report by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences.

Four U.S. senators leading the debate for a long-term transportation bill said that they have reached a bipartisan agreement on the broad principles for legislation they will begin working on after the Easter recess.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s new proposal to require electronic logging devices will open the way for the truck telematics industry to expand rapidly, so long as it keeps moving forward without running into further roadblocks, an industry analyst said.