Arkansas Trucking Association

Court-Approved Flashing

It’s a common practice among drivers who pass through a speed trap: Flash your headlights at approaching cars as a warning to slow down. Now, a federal court judge in Missouri says penalizing drivers for the headlight flash violates their First Amendment right to free speech.

U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey in St. Louis issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the St. Louis County town of Ellisville from citing and prosecuting drivers who flash their lights to warn of radar and speed traps.

Arkansans Join Coalition to Back Keystone XL Oil Pipeline

Five Democrats, including Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), joined Republicans at a Capitol news conference in February to urge President Obama to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline following a State Department report that raised no major environmental objections. The $7 billion pipeline would carry 830,000 barrels of tar sands oil from Canada to Texas oil refineries.

Freight Index Rises to Best Level on Record

The amount of freight carried by the nation’s for-hire transportation industry rose 1.2 percent in November from October, rebounding from a one-month decline to reach its highest all-time level, according to a new U.S. Department of Transportation report.

The November 2013 Freight Transportation Services Index level of 116.5 was 22.8 percent above the April 2009 low during the most recent recession and exceeds the previous high of 115.4 in September 2013. Records go back to 2000.