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President Obama took some time to talk about trucks and trucking last week, and while standing among some Class 8s, he observed:

“Trucks like these are responsible for about 20% of our on-road fuel consumption, and because they haul about 70% of all domestic freight — 70% of the stuff we use, everything from flat-screen TVs to diapers to produce to you-name-it — every mile that we gain in fuel efficiency is worth thousands of dollars of savings every year.”

Bitter winter weather in much of the United States drove up diesel, crude oil and gasoline prices again last week, with all hitting their highest levels in at least four months, analysts said.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has unveiled a concept tractor-trailer that includes a hybrid-electric powertrain and the first-ever trailer made from a solid sheet of lightweight carbon fiber.

President Obama last week said he would seek an additional set of carbon-dioxide emissions and fuel-economy improvements for heavy- and medium-duty trucks that would go beyond standards that take effect this year and in 2017.

Reaction to President Obama’s call for tighter carbon dioxide emissions rules for trucks poured in quickly with the first wave of comment generally offering approval, although there were also calls for caution, including from American Trucking Associations.

Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) have introduced a bill that would reinstate the $1-per-gallon tax credit for biodiesel producers that expired last year.

The U.S. diesel average rose 2.6 cents last week to $3.977 a gallon, the third straight increase that has pushed prices up more than a dime, the Department of Energy reported.

The continued cold weather throughout much of the United States pushed the diesel average up 4.7 cents to $3.951 a gallon last week, the highest price since September, the Department of Energy reported.