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The battle over how to best accomplish clean-truck programs for drayage fleets has moved from California ports and courtrooms to the halls of Congress.

California’s new emission-reduction rule for transport refrigeration units unfairly imposes air quality standards on out-of-state carriers, attorneys for American Trucking Associations and the Truckload Carriers Association told a federal appeals court.

In the face of growing pressure on the federal government to regulate oil markets and trading, the Federal Trade Commission has issued a new rule that could result in fines of up to $1 million if traders or companies are found manipulating fuel markets.

The average retail price of a gallon of diesel in the United States rose 7.5 cents last week to $2.625, the highest level this year, the Energy Department reported.

A proposed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule designed to expand biofuel use actually has brought the biodiesel market “to a grinding halt,” because it does not allow most blends of soy oil, according to the National Biodiesel Board.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission should create position limits on energy contracts across all trading platforms to protect the trucking industry from excessive speculation in oil futures, a representative of American Trucking Associations testified at recent CFTC hearings.

The selective catalytic reduction process that most engine manufacturers will use to comply with 2010 federal diesel emission standards could emit toxic byproducts, the California Air Resources Board’s top researcher wrote in a recent letter filed in federal court by Navistar Inc.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s decision to cut the maximum allowed stopping distance for large trucks by 30% will increase truck buyers’ costs somewhat, but will not force a widespread shift to new technology such as air disc brakes, industry groups and manufacturers said.

Trucking groups hailed the decision by the National Conference on Weights and Measures not to proceed with proposals to regulate the temperature of retail fuel at the pump.

U.S. retail diesel prices dropped 4.6 cents last week to $2.496 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported — the fourth straight decline — but rising crude oil costs will soon lead to a reversal of that trend, a department analyst predicted.