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U.S. registrations of used Class 8 trucks jumped to 69,474 vehicles in the first quarter of the year, nearly 54% more than the same period in 2009, R.L. Polk & Co. said.

At a time when trucking has its pick of more communications options than ever, an increasing number of federal regulations has influenced not only when carriers adopt technology but also what technology they invest in.

Truck-stop operators and other retail outlets praised an amendment to the Senate’s financial reform package that would limit the fees credit- and debit-card companies charge stores.

The Obama administration was set last week to outline a path to national fuel-economy standards for large trucks, bringing industry and government officials to the White House to announce a plan that could aim at driving habits as well as equipment changes to reduce fuel use.

Carrier and shipper executives are changing their focus from surviving the recession to managing their changing relationships with customers and labor as the economic recovery continues, according to sessions at the annual Transplace Inc. Shipper Symposium.

Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc., Cudahy, Wis., has completed trucking’s first initial public stock offering since 2003, raising $148.4 million to repay debt as the company considers acquisition.

Intermodal volume in the first four months of 2010 is surging ahead of 2009 levels, powered by a sharp rise in domestic container shipments and renewed growth in international freight, a trade group said.

Mexico’s president, Felipe Calderon, said last week that the United States and his nation would solve the countries’ ongoing trade dispute caused by the closure of the southern border to longhaul truck traffic.

More than two dozen transportation advocacy groups have asked the drafters of a Senate energy and climate bill to reconsider their legislation to allocate new revenue from transportation-based motor fuel fees to “activities entirely unrelated to improving the nation’s transportation infrastructure.”

The average price of retail diesel dipped 3.3 cents to $3.094 a gallon last week, the largest decline since Feb. 1, according to the Department of Energy.