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The federal government in the Washington area remained closed for a fourth day Thursday following Wednesday’s blizzard and as a result the Department of Energy is not likely to release its weekly fuel prices until at least Friday.

Forward Air Corp. said its fourth-quarter profit fell to $6.4 million, or 22 cents per share, from $8.3 million, or 29 cents, a year ago.

The California Air Resources Board has launched a $20 million funding assistance program designed to stimulate the purchase of hybrid trucks and buses that reduce diesel emissions.

UPS Inc. said it benefited from a sharp increase in December air shipments out of Asia and a busy holiday season to post profits for the fourth quarter and the full year.

The U.S. retail diesel average dropped 5.2 cents to $2.781 a gallon last week, the third straight weekly drop, the Department of Energy reported.

The Obama Administration is asking Congress to approve a nearly $10 billion Environmental Protection Agency budget that would shift $20 million in California truck diesel emissions retrofit grant funding to a nationwide diesel emissions reduction program that also includes funding for rail and marine diesel emissions reduction projects.

Knight Transportation has placed an order for 370 2010 model Volvo VN trucks with selective catalytic reduction technology, Volvo Trucks North America said Monday.

The U.S. retail diesel average price fell 3.7 cents a gallon to $2.833 last week, the largest one-week decline since July, the Department of Energy reported.

California environmental regulators are considering several options to delay some requirements of the state’s diesel emissions regulation to provide “short-term relief” for truckers feeling the effects of the recession.