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Many truckload carriers said profits pushed higher during the second quarter despite a lingering inability to find and retain drivers that prohibited fleet expansion in spite of high demand for freight-hauling services.

Several U.S. fleet executives said the Supreme Court’s June decision not to interfere with the opening of the entire United States to Mexican trucks created a business opportunity that relatively few companies might be eager to fill.

The credit quality of most transportation sectors, including trucking, remained stable in recent months, but some faced significant challenges because of high fuel prices and low-cost competition, credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s said.

Motor carrier executives and shipper groups last week said they were uncertain how the court decision throwing out the new driver hours-of-service rules would affect fleet operations in coming weeks.

U.S. retail sales of Class 8 trucks surged 35.6% in June to their highest level in almost four years, prompting truck makers to further increase their production rates.

DALLAS — Economists and lending officials told trucking executives here that in a solidly growing economy it would be easier for trucking companies to borrow capital, as lenders accepted more risk and as more financial institutions returned to the market.

The Standard & Poor’s credit-rating agency said that fuel surcharges by trucking companies that it reviews have added an average of 14% to freight bills for truckload shipments and 7% for less-than-truckload hauls.

A federal judge has refused to issue an immediate order that truckload carrier J.B. Hunt stop hiring drivers from CRST International Inc.

DALLAS — The costs of lost productivity and higher driver wages resulting from new federal hours-of-service rules for drivers were lower than truckload carriers originally anticipated, fleet officials and American Trucking Associations said.

At midyear, less-than-truckload carriers were enjoying a strong demand for their services as the economy continued to expand — with growth coming from freight-generating manufacturers and not just service providers.