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Rising prices for older-model used trucks have forced sellers to come up with new approaches to make tractors more affordable, according to industry executives.

President Obama signed a new transportation reauthorization law on July 6 that drew measured praise from truckers, shippers, road builders and others who said they were relieved a new law was enacted, even if it does not address long-term funding for the nation’s highway system.

North American Class 8 truck orders fell 22.3% in June from a year earlier to 16,500, the lowest monthly figure since September 2010, according to preliminary data from ACT Research Co.

This story appears in the July 16 print edition of Transport Topics.   Intermodal shipments that surged late in the second quarter have pushed 2012 truck/rail freight volume ahead of the record pace set in 2006, the Association of American Railroads reported.

TOOELE, Utah — As soon as Daimler Trucks offers its North American customers a new part or system, the corporation’s remanufacturing unit, Detroit Reman, is already figuring out how to get used versions of them as soon as possible, so the division can remanufacture them and sell them on the aftermarket.

The average price of a gallon of diesel fuel in the United States rose 3.5 cents a gallon last week to $3.683, the first increase in three months, the U.S. Department of Energy reported.

The freight transportation industry will grow “significantly” in the next decade, and trucking will increase its share of the market, American Trucking Associations said in a report released last week.

Prices paid to U.S. producers rose in June for the first time in four months, reflecting an increase in food costs, the Labor Department said Friday.

American Trucking Associations is holding a video contest to celebrate National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, Sept. 16-22.