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American Trucking Associations, truck manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have urged the Senate to address a research and development bill on increasing fuel efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in medium- and heavy-duty trucks.

Logistics firm Expeditors International of Washington said airfreight tonnage has risen 40% in the first three months of 2010 compared to last year, the Associated Press reported.

WASHINGTON — A week after President Obama announced that the federal government would be crafting the first-ever fuel economy standards for large trucks, observers said it was still unclear exactly what those standards would entail.

A new U.S. Department of Transportation study hints that the Obama administration’s recently announced plans to increase heavy truck fuel efficiency and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions likely will rely on a combination of existing aerodynamic design technologies and future diesel engine and drivetrain modifications that barely have left the laboratory or still are in development.

A new Department of Transportation study hints that the Obama administration’s ambitious plans to increase heavy truck fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse gases emissions will likely rely on a combination of existing aerodynamic design technologies and future diesel engine modifications that have barely left the laboratory or are still under development.

The average price of retail diesel dipped 3.3 cents to $3.094 a gallon last week, the largest decline since Feb. 1, according to the Department of Energy.

The Obama administration was set last week to outline a path to national fuel-economy standards for large trucks, bringing industry and government officials to the White House to announce a plan that could aim at driving habits as well as equipment changes to reduce fuel use.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance is asking that its federal government abandon a plan to adopt a 2% biodiesel mandate for all diesel fuel sold in the country.

Agents of the California Air Resources Board have fanned out to ticket truck operators who fail to comply with the state’s complicated schedule for reducing emissions from the small diesel engines that power transport refrigeration.

Two U.S. senators last week unveiled a carbon emissions reduction bill observers said would significantly increase the cost of diesel fuel.