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Mirroring the devastation the recession wreaked on the trucking industry, revenue from taxes truckers pay to support the nation’s highway system plummeted during the global crisis and has yet to fully recover.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Officials of Daimler Trucks North America revealed details about their plans to turn what formerly had been known as Detroit Diesel into an integrated drivetrain brand, offering information on its new axle line and saying it soon would begin selling automated mechanical transmissions.

The federal government’s chief truck overseer defended her agency’s controversial changes to the 34-hour restart provisions of the hours-of-service rule and vowed to continue efforts to cut the hours drivers may be behind the wheel.

U.S. truckers closed out the year with a surge of heavy-duty truck buying that led to the highest-volume month and highest-volume year since 2006, according to data from WardsAuto.com. Sales boomed 78.3% in December and 59.9% for the year, compared with 2010.

Robert Digges Jr., vice president and chief counsel for American Trucking Associations and a top attorney for ATA’s Litigation Center, is retiring from his post effective Jan. 27, ATA announced last week.

FedEx Corp. and UPS Inc. could see more business if the U.S. Postal Service closes more than half of its 478 processing centers, eliminates Saturday deliveries and slows first-class delivery to two to three days from one to two days, said sources who closely monitor postal cargo operations.

The Surface Transportation Board has revised a year-old decision that was meant to enhance consumer awareness of damage-protection options when they use household goods carriers.

Retail diesel prices increased for the second week in a row, rising 2.6 cents to $3.854 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported last week.