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WASHINGTON — The first-ever proposed federal commercial truck fuel-efficiency and carbon emissions standard could cause an industry pre-buy before it becomes effective in 2014, or drive motor carriers to delay retirement of their fleets, a transportation consultant said.

House Republicans are seeking businesses’ input in an effort to cut back on regulations deemed too onerous to business, the Washington Post reported Monday.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration last week proposed requiring nearly all interstate commercial motor carriers to install electronic data recorders to monitor their drivers’ hours-of-service compliance.

Two transport issues left over from the last Congress are moving in different directions on Capitol Hill in the early days of the current congressional session.

Trucks hauled the vast majority of freight in the United States, according to the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Transportation and third-party logistics firm C.H. Robinson Worldwide reported a fourth-quarter profit of $103.2 million, or 62 cents a share, up 17.6% from $87.7 million, or 52 cents, a year earlier.

Construction spending dropped 2.5% in December to the lowest level in a decade, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration proposed a regulation Monday that would require interstate truck and bus companies to install electronic onboard recorders in vehicles to monitor drivers’ hours of service.

Thirty-one state trucking associations have asked the federal government to study safety issues posed by snow and ice accumulation on trucks.