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As shippers of everything from toys to tools enjoy as much as $24 billion in savings from lower diesel surcharges next year, trucking companies see an opening to raise freight rates at a pace not seen in about a decade.

Retail sales in the U.S. rose in November by the most in eight months as shoppers benefited from an improving job market and cheaper fuel.

Diesel’s pump price dove 7 cents to $3.535 a gallon, the biggest drop in two years, the Department of Energy reported Dec. 8, as oil plunged to a new five-year low near $63 a barrel.

The trade deficit was little changed in October as an improving U.S. economy caused imports to climb to a record while exports also rose.

Trucking and natural-gas industry witnesses told a Senate panel Dec. 3 that Congress could spur the use of the alternative fuel in the transportation sector by changing the tax code, subsidizing a fueling network and addressing existing weight restrictions on highways.

Tom Petri (R-Wis.), the outgoing chairman of the subcommittee on highways, said he will become a co-sponsor of a bill that would increase federal fuel taxes to support the nation’s transportation system.

Diesel’s national average pump price declined 2.3 cents to $3.605 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported Dec. 1, after last week’s plunge in oil prices to a five-year low.