Arkansas Trucking Association

The Walmart Stores Inc. driver whose truck crashed into a limousine carrying actor Tracy Morgan was in the 14th hour of a work shift that began the day before, which is within allowable limits, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

In early June, President Barack Obama announced an initiative to reduce the nation’s climate-warming emissions by 30 percent by 2030. Each state was asked to develop its own plan for reaching its goal — a cut of nearly 45 percent for Arkansas, which gets about half of its electricity from coal-fired power plants and the rest from a mix of natural gas, nuclear and hydroelectric.

The Senate bill that would have suspended two of the 34-hour restart provisions included in the 2013-implemented federal hours-of-service rule was pulled from the Senate floor June 19 after disagreements over procedural rules prevented the bill from moving forward for debate.

Consumer spending in the U.S. grew in May as Americans used gains in income to shore up household finances.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who was elected House GOP leader following the unexpected loss of Rep. Eric Cantor’s (R-Va.) seat, said he wouldn’t support increasing the federal tax as a legislative solution for shoring up a federal highway account that funds highway programs at the state level.

Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) proposed a raise and index of the fuel tax in order to preserve the user pays principle and keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent.

Walmart unveiled a new concept truck, the Walmart Advanced Vehicle Experience (WAVE), featuring lead- ing edge aerodynamics, an advanced turbine-powered range extending series hybrid powertrain, electrified auxiliary omponents and sophisticated control systems at the Mid-America Trucking Show.

The for-hire trucking industry added 3,300 jobs in March, according to the monthly employment report released by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The U.S. economy as a whole added 192,000 non-farm jobs in March. National unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.7 percent.

Average state personal income in the U.S. grew 2.6 percent in 2013, a decline from the 4.2 percent of 2012, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Class 8 orders in March were solid again, rounding out a quarter that points toward a growth cycle for truck sales, according to data released by firms FTR and ACT Research.