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By Sean McNally, Senior Reporter

The Supreme Court’s ruling that the EPA must reconsider its position to leave “greenhouse gas” emissions from motor vehicles unregulated could lead to increased costs for trucking companies.

Air cargo shipments inched up 0.6% in February, the Air Transport Association said late Monday.

Air freight and cargo company Kitty Hawk Inc. said Tuesday it earned $8.3 million or 15 cents a share in the fourth quarter, compared with a loss of $4.1 million or 8 cents a year earlier.

The Supreme Court Monday ordered the federal government to take a new look at regulating carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles, in a rebuke to the Bush administration’s policy on global warming, the Associated Press reported.

A loosening of the tight capacity for freight hauling now makes the fuel-surcharge programs — upon which motor carriers depend to insulate them from fuel price spikes — vulnerable to demands for change by shippers.

The U.S. EPA said last week that diesel engine manufacturers who want to use selective catalytic reduction to meet EPA’s 2010 emission rules must supply the urea SCR requires and prove it will be available to truck drivers using those engines.

The trucking industry is willing to pay higher fuel taxes as long as the money is spent to improve the highway infrastructure, American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves said.