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The trucking industry in the Northeast was scrambling last week in the wake of Hurricane Sandy to assess the damage to fleet facilities and roadways and to determine which customers were ready to accept deliveries.

CINCINNATI — Truck and engine makers said that meeting the federal government’s greenhouse-gas standards that take effect in 2017 while still complying with the 2010 emissions rule is a difficult challenge and could result in more “hard programming” of engine settings and fewer choices for fleets in their tractors.

The rapid growth of e-commerce is forcing all kinds of businesses — from retailers and wholesale distributors to manufacturers and import-export companies — to change the way they distribute goods.

Navistar International Corp. last week announced plans to cut costs by closing its Garland, Texas, plant, a move that affects 900 workers but not the company’s overall manufacturing capacity.

A number of trucking industry suppliers, led by engine maker Cummins Inc., all reported lower earnings in the third quarter due to falling demand for their products.

Third-quarter earnings statements of less-than-truckload carriers issued last week generally followed an industrywide pattern of mixed results, with some seeing solid gains in profitability but others reporting significant earnings drop-offs.

Fleets should expect rising insurance premiums, especially for property/casualty and workers’ compensation lines, executives and insurance brokers said.

U.S. companies are expected to create more than 1 million logistics-related jobs in the next four years, but educational institutions are currently turning out a small fraction of the trained workers that will be needed, a new study shows.

The Intermodal Association of North America and The National Industrial Transportation League will hold concurrent meetings later this month as rail/truck freight volumes remain close to the peak year of 2006.

U.S. average diesel prices dropped 8.6 cents last week, the largest decrease in almost four years, to $4.03 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported. Meanwhile, analysts said they were not expecting any lasting increases in prices as a result of Hurricane Sandy.