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SAN DIEGO — A “perfect storm” of a nose-diving economy, high fuel prices and governmental missteps have all combined to ravage the trucking industry and the companies that supply its equipment, according to Jim Hebe, senior vice president of North American sales for Navistar Inc.

Details of the Environmental Protection Agency’s record $10.5 billion fiscal 2010 budget proposal — a 37% increase — quickly set off a partisan debate in Congress last week over the agency’s plans to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

The average price of retail gasoline soared last week, jumping 16.2 cents a gallon to a U.S. average of $2.24, leapfrogging diesel, which rose 3.1 cents to $2.216. Gasoline prices exceeded diesel for the first time in nearly two years.

Registrations of new trailers plummeted 62.5% in the first quarter as the economy weakened, and industry executives and analysts said trailer manufacturing was headed for its worst year since 1975.

Intermodal freight volume declined 16% in the first quarter of 2009 from a year earlier, in part because of stiffer truck competition for trailer shipments, the Intermodal Association of North America reported.

The debate over future surface transportation policy is likely to be directed by Congress, rather than the Obama administration, several industry lobbyists said following the recent release of nu-merous documents.

Trucking is just beginning to glimpse benefits from the federal economic stimulus program, which could produce about $1.1 billion in carrier revenue over the next two years for moving materials used in infrastructure projects, industry and federal officials said.

Some flatbed carriers said they are seeing scattered volume growth, although weak housing, construction and steel markets continue to dampen demand in the trucking sector that has been hit hardest by the recession.

Heavy-duty U.S. truck sales continued at a dismal pace in April, as monthly volume fell 44.4% from a year earlier, when sales were already declining. Year to date, sales are now 32.5% behind the comparable period of 2008, according to the latest monthly survey from WardsAuto.com.

BOSTON — Volvo Trucks joined the argument over allowing longer, heavier trucks on U.S. highways, saying Congress should allow them on the interstate system to relieve congestion, increase productivity, conserve fuel and cut greenhouse gas emissions.