Government

The U.S. Department of Transportation has issued guidelines to help states develop programs to require first-time drunken driving offenders use ignition interlocks that prevent them from operating vehicles after drinking.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) has introduced a bill that would suspend the latest changes to the 34-hour restart provision of the hours-of-service rule for truck drivers.

The biggest change in transportation at the federal level this year came when Anthony Foxx took over as secretary of transportation in July.

The proposed rule on electronic logging devices for trucks will not be published until 2014, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said Dec. 20.

President Obama projected that 2014 would be a “breakthrough year” for the U.S. economy.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said last week it would move forward with a field study on the effect of split rest times for truckers who use sleeper berths.

Trucking companies no longer will be required to file quarterly financial reports to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the agency recently announced in the Federal Register.    

Emissions of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter from heavy-duty engines produced since 2010 are “substantially lower than required by regulations,” according to a new study.

The U.S. economy expanded at a 4.1% annual rate in the third quarter, the strongest since the final three months of 2011 and up from an estimate of 3.6%, the Commerce Department said Dec. 20.