Congress passed legislation to grant short-term relief to corporations from the financial burden of stricter pension funding requirements imposed by the Pension Protection Act of 2006. The American Trucking Associations said the law would help ease the financial strain on American businesses due to the lagging economy and current volatility in the financial markets.

Preliminary data show almost 10 percent fewer people were killed in traffic accidents during the first 10 months of 2008, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported. Although DOT’s announcement did not mention it, the number of highway miles driven was down by a similarly dramatic degree last year.

Freight Transportation Services Index rose 1.0 percent in October from its September level after two consecutive monthly declines, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported.

U.S. District Court for South Dakota granted a request to immediately halt the operations of Action Carrier Inc. of Sioux Falls. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said it had initiated three separate civil penalty proceedings against Action Carrier over the last year for operating without insurance and operating after revocation of authority.

President-elect Barack Obama on Dec. 19 named U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood, a seven-term Republican from Illinois, as his choice for the next U.S. Transportation Secretary. If approved by the Senate, LaHood, 63, would succeed Secretary Mary Peters, who has served since 2006.

Joan Claybrook is stepping down as president of Public Citizen on Jan. 31 after 27 years leading the organization, which has been one of the trucking industry’s most active and successful critics in recent years. Claybrook will remain on the board of directors.

Wabash National Corp. conducted an extended shutdown of its Lafayette, Ind., plant over the holidays and is returning all but 800 employees through Feb. 3. The remaining employees are slated to return to work during the second quarter.