Business

WASHINGTON — Legislation introduced in the Senate would provide tax credits of up to $24,000 to defray the cost of purchasing hybrid and electric heavy- and medium-duty trucks.

The Manufacturers of Emission Controls Association said even though its members installed more than 24,000 diesel retrofit devices last year, more government incentives are needed to upgrade the older diesel engines in operation.

Volvo AB said July 11 it is updating its Condor line of medium-duty trucks for sale in Japan by its UD Trucks division, effective July 12.

Southern California’s “Carmageddon” weekend finished without a hitch as work on Interstate 405 that had closed the busy freeway wrapped up early Sunday, about 17 hours ahead of schedule, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The Port of Los Angeles said its June import cargo volume dropped 10% from a year ago, to about 334,000 20-foot equivalent units.

Truck and engine builder Navistar Inc. said that it has begun selling aftermarket parts on Amazon.com.

Truck manufacturers sold 14,647 Class 8 vehicles in June, a 64.6% increase over last June and the highest monthly total since March 2007, and they said they expected sales to continue to rise this year despite the weak economic recovery.

U.S. regulators and U.S. truckers who do business in Mexico said they are skeptical that Mexican carriers will participate in the cross-border trucking program in large numbers when the pilot project gets into full swing in the next 60 days.

Oil slipped below $97 a barrel in early trading Monday, continuing to hold in the mid-$90s per-barrel range it’s been in for the past month, Bloomberg reported.

Rising demand for freight hauling is generating more business for trucking companies, but rising costs and a dwindling supply of drivers are making it difficult for the nation’s top for-hire carriers to provide additional capacity to meet that demand.