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Volvo AB and Daimler AG are producing global heavy-duty engine platforms for use in North America, Europe and Asia, and other manufacturers plan to introduce their own versions, pushed by converging emission regulations, the need to reduce research and development costs and to take advantage of economies of scale, according to industry analysts and executives.

Navistar International Corp. will use federal emission credits to enable its new Class 8 engine to meet 2010 federal emission standards, although the engine could be set up to comply with the regulation without the credits, a Navistar executive said.

Pacer International announced last week that its subsidiaries will deploy 230 new clean trucks this month to comply with Southern California port regulations.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — ABF Freight System will use diesel engines with selective catalytic reduction technology starting in 2010, but the less-than-truckload carrier has not decided upon the truck maker it will use.

Reversing Bush administration policies, including its denial of California’s request for a waiver allowing the state to regulate automobile greenhouse-gas emissions, could be high on President-elect Barack Obama’s agenda in January, some observers said.

Adding biodiesel to Canada’s existing fuel storage, blending and distribution infrastructure could spur a host of problems for the country's distillate market, the Canadian Trucking Association said.

The U.S. average retail diesel price dropped 14.4 cents to $2.944 a gallon last week, falling below $3 for the first time in 14 months, and is expected to drop even further next year, the U.S. Department of Energy said.

The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada has agreed to transfer ownership of five Las Vegas public compressed natural gas fueling stations to Clean Energy Fuels Corp., Clean Energy said Friday.

Prodded by soaring fuel prices and the contracting economy, shippers have spent most of 2008 trying to pare transportation spending to meet demands by company executives looking for antidotes to stagnant revenue growth.

The letter writer who commented on less-than-truckload reweighing in the Oct. 13 issue of Transport Topics  has led a sheltered experience in the trucking industry.