COLUMBUS, Ind. — Higher productivity and profits in the trucking industry will help boost production and sales in North America this year and in the following several years, according to ACT Research Co.

Shippers are diverting cargo from Port Metro Vancouver as a labor dispute enters its third week, even as truck operations at Canada’s largest have picked up despite an ongoing truckers’ strike.

Officials of the Canadian government and Port Metro Vancouver have proposed a 14-point plan to end protests and a strike by truckers that have crippled incoming container traffic at Canada’s largest port for more than two weeks.

Diesel rose a half-cent to $4.021 per gallon, its sixth increase in seven weeks and the highest price in almost a year, the Department of Energy reported March 10.

Unionized truckers at Port Metro Vancouver rejected a tentative agreement that had been brokered late last week to resolve simmering disputes, and began a strike at the port March 10.

Truckers at Port Metro Vancouver reached a tentative agreement March 6 to avert a strike that could have further crippled traffic at Canada’s largest port.

Diesel dipped 0.1 cent to $4.016 a gallon, its first decline in six weeks and just the third this year, the Department of Energy reported March 3.

Diesel pushed past $4 a gallon for the first time in almost a year, gaining 2.8 cents to $4.017 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported Feb. 24.

Navistar International Corp. announced Feb. 20 that it will consolidate its midrange engine manufacturing operations, which it said will eliminate 280 jobs and save the company about $22 million annually.