Government

Trucking industry leaders gathering in New Orleans this week at American Trucking Associations’ annual Management Conference & Exhibition will hear from experts on topics including the current financial turmoil, the upcoming elections, and preparations for next year’s highway bill and the 2010 engine emissions rules.

The California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach formally launched their clean-trucks programs last week without any apparent major glitches, although activity at some terminals was initially reported to be lighter than usual, with fewer trucks showing up at the gates.

The investment group that sought to lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike has withdrawn its bid, citing political opposition and uncertain financial markets, and leaving the state without a solution to its infrastructure funding problems.

The average price of retail diesel fuel rose 0.1 cent last week to $3.959, following 10 straight weeks of declines, according to the De-partment of Energy.

The U.S. economy’s service sector declined but showed expanded in September, the Institute for Supply Management said Friday.

Automakers saw their U.S. sales plunge in September as credit tightened and the economy remained sluggish, Bloomberg reported.

Factory orders fell 4% in August, the most in almost two years, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

In this country and this economy, I, too, believe there’s a lot of unused space moving up and down our highways, creating inefficiencies.

Nearly a year into the application process, more than half of the estimated 1.2 million U.S. transportation workers have not applied for their Transportation Worker Identification Credential that, beginning April 15, 2009, will be required to gain entrance to all the nation’s ports and other transportation facilities.