Business

In this issue of Transport Topics, President Eisenhower’s Advisory Committee on a National Highway Program proposed increasing the nation’s highway expenditures by $101 billion over the next 10 years, expanding the National System of Interstate Highways to 400,000 miles.  

For the first time since September 2010, the national retail average price for a gallon of diesel fuel is below $3 a gallon, which means trucking executives are both spending less money and pulling in less revenue as fuel surcharge receipts dwindle.

Decisions about which engine oil fleets run in their trucks are based on everything from past experience to everyday convenience, but those choices can affect the long-term performance of the equipment, service and manufacturing representatives said.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said it is addressing an increasing and disproportionate number of fatal large truck-involved crashes in North Dakota’s Bakken oil field counties.

Cargo volumes and freight shipments through California ports, particularly the three largest on the West Coast, continued to climb last year despite delays and congestion linked to regional labor contract talks, the latest industry statistics showed.

U.S. retail sales of Classes 4-7 trucks climbed in December to 18,731 units, the highest monthly total in more than seven years, according to WardsAuto.com.

WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders of transportation policy committees said corporate tax reform, private sector investments, and possibly raising fees for highway users are ways to fund a five-year highway bill that industries, including trucking, say is vital for business.