Safety

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Rail intermodal traffic rose 1.1% last week, the Association of American Railroads reported Thursday.

A time-honored axiom of business is that everything begins with a sale. It’s a truism that seems especially apt in the transportation industry. After all, motor carriers need to find freight to fill their trailers. Shippers need to find carriers to haul their commodities.

The big snow storm that paralyzed parts of the Midwest Wednesday shut down traffic on Interstate 78 for about 50 miles near the junction with Interstate 81 in Lebanon County, Pa., the Allentown Morning Call reported Thursday on its Web site.

The U.S. Transportation Department’s transportation services index fell 0.4% in 2006, its first annual decline since 2001, DOT said Wednesday.

ATA Seeks Alerts to Fleets on Drivers’ CDLs • ATRI Seeking Input for Speed-Governor Survey • Idaho Eyes Raising Truck Speed Limit to 70 MPH • Mitsubishi Fuso Recalls 60,000 Trucks Overseas

In addition to providing billions of dollars for congestion relief, the Department of Transportation’s $67 billion fiscal 2008 budget proposal included millions of dollars for commercial vehicle safety.

In May 2000, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a number of proposed changes to the existing hours-of-service rules — rules which, until this point, had remained virtually unchanged for 60 years.

A winter blast of snow, freezing rain and frigid temperatures created headaches for travelers across the Midwest Tuesday, pushing cars and tractor-trailer rigs off highways, the Associated Press reported.

Forward Air Corp., a contractor to the air cargo industry, reported its fourth-quarter net income matched the previous year’s, at $12.2 million, while earnings per share climbed to 40 cents a share from 38 cents.