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ORLANDO, Fla. — With the United States in a recession, the federal government is commanding a larger presence, two business lobbyists said, and while that does bring with it the potential for trouble, many executives at a manufacturers’ conference here welcomed the potential for help.

The average retail price of U.S. diesel declined for the fifth consecutive week, dipping another 3.3 cents a gallon, according to the Department of Energy.

With so much attention being placed on the economic stimulus legislation, trucking has not been able to uncover much about the Obama administration’s transportation policy, said Bill Graves, president of American Trucking Associations.

Technological glitches related to the launch of a container fee program are being blamed for congestion that jammed the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., on Feb. 18.

Some truckload fleets said they are selectively cutting driver pay for the first time in years to counter cost pressures as the recession dries up freight demand.

State truck registration fees would more than double under a proposal being prepared for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration under a two-year-old system Congress set up to reduce fees for for-hire carriers.

Trucking suffered the greatest loss of jobs in history during January, excluding the month of the national drivers’ strike in 1994.

The price of goods imported to the United States fell for a sixth straight month in January on lower commodity costs, declining 1.1%, the Labor Department said Wednesday.

The Environmental Protection Agency will hold a public hearing March 5 on a 2007 decision to deny California a waiver allowing the state to implement its own greenhouse gas emission standards for automobiles and light trucks.