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Twenty-seven years ago at a bankruptcy sale, New England Motor Freight bought 22 acres at the Port of New York & New Jersey for just over $1 million.

Lofty goals for the widespread use of clean alternative fuels at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., are running into market realities as drayage operators ignore liquefied natural gas engines and instead buy less-expensive diesel trucks.

Prices of most key commodities used in making heavy trucks have dropped 50% or more since last year, but price reductions for tires, components and trucks have been difficult to find.

Freight railroads are facing their stiffest legislative challenge in three decades, as a bill that would make the first changes to the industry’s competitive environment since 1980 is slated for a Senate vote in a matter of weeks.

The average price of retail diesel in the United States slipped another 1.6 cents last week to $2.185 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported, even as crude oil hit a five-month high.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Larger, heavier trucks would not be just an economic boost, but also a means of cutting annual petroleum usage by billions of gallons and sharply reducing greenhouse gases, a university researcher told a gathering of shippers here.

The Obama administration last week issued a renewable fuel standard proposal aimed at growing the supply of biofuels and for the first time requiring them to meet emission-reduction targets.

The U.S. unemployment rate rose to 8.9% in April from 8.5% in March, but the pace of job cuts slowed, the Labor Department said Friday.