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Spurred by the demands of newer diesel engines, changing emissions technology and escalating competition, truck-stop operators say they have begun placing more fuels and other products where drivers can find them fast and buy them with a single swipe of a credit card.

While the attention of the nation was focused for much of the year on the costly and protracted presidential election campaign, trucking probably will look back on 2012 as a turning point for the adoption of natural gas as a viable alternative fuel for heavy-duty fleets.

Managers of the nation’s largest shipper-owned truck fleets are taking steps to counter the rising cost of fuel and equipment by more closely monitoring drivers and using new data collection techniques to make better routing decisions and improve compliance with safety and environmental regulations.

Truck and engine manufacturer Navistar International Corp., pressed to find a way to offer engines that comply with federal emissions regulations, said last week that it has reached an agreement to use Cummins Inc. selective catalytic reduction technology for its 13-liter engines and offer Cummins 15-liter engines in some of its International brand trucks.

Satisfaction with model-year 2011 trucks suffered as a result of technology added to comply with 2010 federal emissions regulations, which resulted in customers’ reporting more problems with the trucks, a recent J.D. Power and Associates’ survey found.

Several key air and ground transportation issues are pressing before Congress, but lawmakers have only a few working days this month in which to address them.

The truck driver shortage and related fleet capacity constraints are driving strong growth in domestic intermodal hauling as carriers and shippers try to ensure they have freight-moving options in the months ahead, industry experts said.

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.

American Trucking Associations last week asked the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to facilitate the use of consolidation bins in transporting small packages of hazmat materials.