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Ultra-low-sulfur diesel, the standard fuel of heavy-duty trucking since late 2006, has more energy content than engineers originally had expected, a welcome surprise, according to a study from the American Transportation Research Institute.

The average retail price of diesel fuel remained relatively stable for a second week, dropping 1.8 cents to $2.296, the U.S. Department of Energy reported.

Most new heavy-duty trucks sold in the United States and Canada, beginning when 2010 models are introduced, will use selective catalytic reduction technology to cut emissions, which will require the addition of a new fluid to work properly. And truck stops throughout the nations are trying to prepare to meet the demand for this new product.

Forward Air Corp. lowered its fourth-quarter earnings guidance, citing “severely worsening economic conditions” in the second half of the quarter.

The average price of U.S. retail diesel fuel rose last week for the first time in more than three months, inching up 2.3 cents a gallon to $2.314, the Department of Energy reported.

A top U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official said last week that the agency has “absolutely no intention” of granting the request by truck and engine manufacturer Navistar Inc. for a two-year delay in implementing 2010 federal diesel emission standards for new heavy trucks.

Consumer prices fell 0.7% in December led by declining energy costs and slowing the declines of previous months, the Labor Department said Friday.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator-designate Lisa Jackson said she was “open to discussion” of a carbon tax to limit greenhouse gas emissions and would immediately begin a review of the Bush administration’s denial of California’s request to regulate those emissions from automobiles.

The Environmental Protection Agency, as proposed, has formally required new heavy trucks to have warning lights that indicate when engine emission controls are malfunctioning or deteriorating, starting in 2010.