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WASHINGTON — The first vice chairwoman of American Trucking Associations joined a pair of Republican senators to decry the climate legislation being debated in Congress, saying it will amount to a huge tax increase on fuel.

The Port of Long Beach and American Trucking Associations last week reached an out-of-court settlement of ATA’s federal lawsuit challenging portions of the port’s Clean Trucks Plan. The agreement will simplify the registration process for carriers moving containers at the port.

Forward Air Corp. said late Wednesday its third-quarter profit fell to $3.8 million, or 13 cents per share, from $12.1 million, or 42 cents, a year ago.

You can’t watch television these days without hearing some railroad company advertising the “green” benefits of moving freight from the road to rail. The most often heard is the claim by one major railroad that “one ton of freight can be moved 436 miles on one gallon of fuel.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said last week its clean diesel efforts have produced $500 million to $1.4 billion in public health benefits.

LAS VEGAS — As the deadline nears for implementation of the latest change in federal emission rules, truck makers and fleets are moving to ensure that the supply of required diesel exhaust fluid is pure.

U.S. retail fuel prices snapped a steady string of declines last week, as the average cost of a gallon of diesel rose 1.8 cents to $2.60 a gallon, and gasoline climbed 2.1 cents to $2.489.

There was further evidence last week of the growing link between fuel prices and Wall Street, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose above 10,000 for the first time in a year, and the price of crude oil exceeded $75 a barrel for the first time since September 2008.