91��Ƶ

The severe drought that has devastated farmers and cattlemen from Montana to Texas and from Kentucky to Colorado is now set to hit trucking companies that haul grain and soybeans, industry officials said.

New engine technologies and improved aerodynamics have yielded significant fuel efficiency gains for carriers running post-2010 heavy-duty trucks, but some fleet executives said they are encountering some new maintenance issues.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has notified four interstate tolling authorities in New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania that it has launched an inquiry into how they decide to raise tolls and how they spend the money.

Trucking bankruptcies reached their lowest level in at least 25 years during the second quarter as freight demand and pricing remained strong enough to sustain virtually every fleet, a new Avondale Partners report said.

The rate of growth in freight in the United States slowed again in June, mirroring the weakening recovery in the overall economy, according to a key market barometer.

Changes announced in December to the federal hours-of-service rule rely on a “sham” of an analysis and unjustifiable assumptions, American Trucking Associations told a federal court last week, urging the court to overturn the provisions of the rule that restrict the 34-hour restart and require an off-duty break.

UPS Inc. raised second-quarter earnings to $1.12 billion, with help from its less-than-truckload unit, but the biggest parcel and freight carrier warned that its second-half profit will be diminished by a weakening U.S. economy.

WASHINGTON — While expressing support for a proposed electronic stability control mandate for heavy vehicles, the companies that make those vehicles strongly objected to the regulation’s test procedure for getting vehicles certified and urged federal regulators to consider alternative tests.

Volvo Trucks and Paccar Inc. last week announced plans to cut production, citing a slowdown in North American Class 8 truck orders.

U.S. retail diesel and gasoline prices rose for the third straight week, taking back more of the substantial cost drops that dominated the second quarter of the year, the Department of Energy reported July 23.