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A convoy of 100 diesel trucks motored slowly along the Harbor Freeway from South Los Angeles to the Port of Long Beach Wednesday as part of a push for cleaner air and better working conditions for drivers, television station KTLA reported on its Web site.

A push for lower emissions from heavy-duty trucks, coupled with grants from state and localities in order to meet Southern California’s air-quality standards, are prompting interest in and sales of new trucks in the region, the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported Monday.

The Senate passed a comprehensive energy bill late Thursday that raises average auto fuel efficiency standards, but the measure did not include a tax on oil companies that would have boosted alternative fuel development, Agence France-Press reported.

Class 8 truck makers said they are offering electronically controlled air disc brakes as an option in 2007 models, promoting them as safer and easier to maintain than the drum brakes most U.S. heavy trucks use.

The Senate last week weakened legislation that would have set mileage standards for heavy trucks, instead ordering an 18-month study of large-truck fuel economy before the government can set such standards.

Crude oil fell back by almost $1 a barrel following an Energy Department report that showed oil inventories jumped much higher than expectations last week, Bloomberg reported.

A Senate committee approved $28 billion in tax breaks Tuesday to underwrite renewable fuels and “clean coal” technology, but the full Senate cut back provisions that would greatly expand diesel fuel made from coal, the New York Times reported.

Crude oil futures rose to a nine-month high Tuesday, closing at $69.10 a barrel, the highest New York Mercantile Exchange closing price since Sept. 1, Bloomberg reported.