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Tire manufacturers say that an ongoing shortage of component materials — which is expected to continue through 2012 and beyond — combined with soaring global demand and logistics costs, has driven up costs and led the makers to boost prices for commercial tires.

Two new chassis pool options are emerging for drayage carriers that have been struggling with equipment issues since ocean lines began in 2009 to back away from providing chassis free-of-charge for moving international containers.

WASHINGTON — U.S. interstate highways are in need of rebuilding and repair, but the use of tolls as a funding source is less efficient than raising the federal fuel tax, said Bill Graves, president of American Trucking Associations.

Truck makers and parts suppliers, along with freight carriers and logistics firms, face a shortage of professional and technical talent, transportation industry recruiting specialists said.

For-hire carriers added 5,100 new jobs last month, making December the fourth consecutive month in which trucking industry job growth has been positive after slumping late in the summer.

Retail diesel prices ended six weeks of declines by rising last week for the first time since late November, the Department of Energy reported, as fleet managers said they were bracing for the possible return of $4-a-gallon fuel.

Transport Topics Online will be closed Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. Please check back on Tuesday, Jan. 17, for the latest trucking and freight transportation news.

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. has unveiled a plan for the first phase of 150 new natural gas fueling stations, and said it anticipates opening 70 stations in 33 states by the end of the year.

U.S. weekly intermodal traffic fell 9.3% from a year ago, the Association of American Railroads reported.