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At Boyd Bros. Transportation Inc. in Birmingham, Ala., Chris Cooper, grandson of the founder, has been running the firm from the cab of his pickup truck since one of the most powerful tornadoes on record devastated Tuscaloosa April 27 before reaching Boyd’s office about 55 miles away.

A draft of the Obama administration’s transportation reauthorization plan calls for creation of an office within the Federal Highway Administration that would spend six years studying a vehicle-miles-traveled tax to help fund the nation’s surface transportation system.

Bill Malone must have been one of the few people in trucking who could chuckle at the price of diesel one day this spring. It was well over $4 a gallon, but Malone was untroubled because the 18 tractors in the fleet he oversees are fueled with liquefied natural gas.

Seat-belt use among drivers of medium- and heavy-duty commercial motor vehicles rose in 2010 to 78%, up from 74% last year and the fourth annual increase in a row, according to a new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration study.

The average retail price of U.S. diesel resumed its upward march last week, climbing 2.6 cents per gallon to $4.124 and sparking renewed attention to fuel surcharge collections.

Oil took its biggest weekly plunge in more than two years this week, falling almost $17 to near $97 a barrel, Bloomberg reported.

YRC Worldwide Friday reported a first-quarter loss of $102 million, or $2.14 per share, compared with a loss of $274 million, or $13.15 per share, a year ago.

Contrans Group said its first-quarter earnings declined, but boosted its dividend and said it saw signs of increased shipping activity.

Trimac Transportation Ltd. reported a first-quarter profit of C$9 million, or 3 Canadian cents per unit, turning around a loss of C$4.1 million, or 31 cents, a year ago.