Hybrid Trucks Drive Through The ‘Valley of Death’

As we noted recently, use of hybrid engine technology in commercial trucks remains very much in its infancy. Expect that infancy to last a while, even with diesel prices soaring. A hybrid big rig costs 50% more than a conventional one, too rich a premium for most consumers. The federal government, while interested in promoting more efficient trucks, isn’t a likely savior here.

All this was up for discussion at a Tuesday Capitol Hill hearing, held by the House Committee on Science and Technology’s Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment. “The truck industry is due for a major technological shift, said Rep. Nick Lampson (D-Texas), the subcommittee’s chair, “but advances in this sector don’t come easily.”

Full story at Forbes.com

Rough Road Ahead For Highway Bill

Washington, D.C. – As we’ve regularly reported on Forbes.com, the road building lobby in Washington makes a loud and skillful case that federal spending on highways–$41 billion for fiscal 2008–is inadequate and that the nation’s infrastructure is facing a crisis.

This week, several hundred industry folks descended on Capitol Hill for their latest lobbying offensive.

“It’s a severe situation,” said David Bauer, senior vice president for government affairs at the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, Tuesday. “It’s probably as severe as [any during] the 11 years that I’ve been at ARTBA.”

Why so severe? One reason is the legislative outlook, as discussed by a panel of Democratic and Republican congressional staffers that ARTBA had summoned for a briefing Tuesday. The consensus among them: reauthorization of the nation’s multi-year transportation spending law, enacted in 2005 with a $287 billion price tag, could prove much trickier than the last go round. A new administration and new environmental issues will complicate already contentious issues of funding America’s infrastructure.

Full story at Forbes.com

The Pressure Is On For Ceramics

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In the early 1980s, buzz grew loud around the use of ceramics in motor vehicles. Given advances in the technology, certain experts argued, it would not be too long before entire engines could be mass-produced from the hard, heat-resistant material.

Those experts were wrong. “The performance characteristics of an ‘all-ceramic’ engine are not that attractive, really,” says John Heywood, a professor of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Still, as automakers struggle to go easier on the environment, more ceramics will end up in cars, particularly for emissions control and cutting the weight of components. Publicly traded participants in the ceramics business, notably Ceradyne (nasdaq: CRDN) and Japan’s Kyocera, stand to benefit.

Full story at Forbes.com

Mobile Video Outfit Refocuses

Washington, D.C. – In early 2004, Peter Durand took the top job at Integrian, a North Carolina company specializing in mobile surveillance systems for vehicles like police cars and buses. It’s been a busy run since, with two venture funding rounds closed, three acquisitions, and a headcount that went from 12 to 200.

“This has been four years of 90 miles an hour every single day,” says Durand, 38.

Not all decisions made at 90 miles an hour turn out well. Integrian hopes one acquisition gone amiss will help another bear fruit.

Two years ago, Integrian deployed a big chunk of its venture capital to acquire publicly listed Innovonics, a $9 million (revenues) Australian developer of transit surveillance technology. The rationale behind the buy: Innovonics’ specialty in passenger rail systems and subways would complement Integrian’s strengths in camera systems for cars and buses.

“We had this goal of combining the technologies into one platform,” says Durand.

Full story at Forbes.com

Concrete Proposals

WASHINGTON, D.C. – “We have a very, very underfunded and seriously challenged transportation system in severe crisis.”

So says Peter Ruane, chief executive of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), as he unveils a 70-page plan for updating legislation on federal surface transportation spending. The law–called the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU)–passed in 2005 with a $287 billion price tag. It’s set to expire two years hence.

Yes, 2009 is a way off, and it isn’t a drop-dead date. The SAFETEA law didn’t get signed until two years after its predecessor’s expiration.

Still, shareholders in companies like Caterpillar (nyse: CAT – news – people ), Deere & Company (nyse: DE – news – people ), and Vulcan Materials (nyse: VMC – news – people ) should watch the road building industry’s Washington standard bearer in the off-season: The federal government finances nearly half the country’s highway and bridge building.

Full story at Forbes.com

The Airlines’ Captain In Washington

WASHINGTON, D.C.- A former Marine captain who served in Vietnam, James May is no stranger to tough missions. He’s got plenty of them these days as chief executive of the Air Transport Association, the trade group representing the biggest U.S. airlines. Last week, for instance, May was an industry point man in responding to the furor over JetBlue’s passenger-stranding debacle.

But on May’s priorities list, the passenger-rights controversy falls well below another big-ticket item: the reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration, whose programs expire next September.

Full story at Forbes.com

Smarter Skies

Beijing has 16 million inhabitants, an economy that grew 12% last year and the 2008 Summer Olympics coming to town. If any city needs to let in more planes, it’s this one.

The Chinese are adding a runway to Asia’s second-busiest airport, but officials there also are hoping new technology will free up more space in the skies. In January the Civil Aviation Administration of China struck a deal with ERA, an Alexandria, Va. company, to install 27 devices, each the size of a minifridge, at Beijing International, and 5 more within a 12-mile radius of the airport. The boxes are packed with sensors that can track planes in flight and on the ground, as well as airport vehicles. More frequent and accurate data on the location of aircraft will let the Beijing airport safely cut the distance between planes as they descend.

Full Story at Forbes.com

Blowing Up Infrastructure

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, a crowd of 200 business reps and government officials piled into the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Washington headquarters for the organization’s annual State of American Business conference. Thomas Donohue, the Chamber’s chief, ticked off priorities for 2007. His top three: education, energy and improving America’s infrastructure.

On the latter, Donohue admitted at least one challenge. “Many people do not find infrastructure to be one of the more scintillating or sexy topics,” he said.

No, infrastructure is not sexy. But the Chamber hopes to add some sparkle this spring, when it rolls out an infrastructure capacity initiative known as “Rebuilding America.” The effort serves as more evidence, with implications for policy watchers and investors alike, that the building, construction, materials and transportation trades enjoy some of the hardiest support in Washington.

Full story at Forbes.com

Interstate Highways: Big Numbers In Washington

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Long before there was an Interstate Highway System, there were highway lobbyists. In fact, the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, or ARTBA, was founded 104 years ago. As the Interstate turns 50 this week, ARTBA is using the occasion to pound the table on its policy priorities.

As part of that effort, ARTBA’s formidable economics staff has put out a barrage of statistics on the Interstate’s economic 50-year impact and outlook. The stats make good fodder for the ARTBA’s arguments on expanding highway capacity. They’re also startling for anyone presently bothered by traffic congestion.

Full story at Forbes.com

Port Brouhaha A Positive For These Stocks

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Whether or not Congress lets a Dubai, U.A.E., company take over management of several U.S. port terminals, the deal has stirred up interest in cargo security. That may mean good news for companies selling technology and services related to inspecting cargo.

Supporters and critics of the deal can debate its merits, but few dispute that cargo inspection systems need a good deal of improvement. A report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office last May bemoaned the lack of even minimum technical standards for nonintrusive inspection equipment. “The cargo and vehicle inspection systems market is still in its infancy,” read a line from the most recent annual report filed by OSI Systems, which sells inspection equipment.

In the accompanying table, we’ve pulled together a few stocks in this field. Several of them are small-caps, such as American Science & Engineering. The Billerica, Mass., company sells X-ray inspection systems, such as CargoSearch, which scans trucks and containers for drugs and weapons.

Full story at Forbes.com