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U.S. consumer confidence this month rose by the most in four years in September, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan’s preliminary monthly consumer sentiment index, released Friday.

A federal judge last week denied American Trucking Associations’ request for a preliminary injunction against controversial portions of emission-reduction programs at the California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Astronomic fuel prices are only part of the economic drag on trucking these days. Add the growing length of time on accounts receivables, more customer bankruptcies and the tightening of credit by suppliers and lenders, and it’s easy to see how carriers’ cash flow has ebbed.

The head of the Canadian Trucking Alliance said an announcement by Prime Minister Stephen Harper that if re-elected he will cut the four cent per liter federal excise tax on diesel fuel in half was the right thing to do for the country’s truckers.

Crude oil prices continued to slide early Wednesday, even as Hurricane Ike intensified as it moved into the Gulf of Mexico and a top OPEC official said the cartel would trim an oversupplied market, Bloomberg reported.

Diesel fuel will average $4.09 this year, down 9 cents from a previous forecast, the Department of Energy said.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Hanna, EPA has exercised its authority under the Clean Air Act to temporarily waive certain federal clean fuel requirements for areas of Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina until next Monday, Sept. 15.

Air and ocean freight forwarder UTi Worldwide said its net income for its 2009 fiscal second quarter ended July 31 rose to $33.7 million, or 33 cents a share, from $27.7 million, or 28 cents a year ago.