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For all the hopeful talk about how President-elect Obama’s stimulus program is going to provide a much-needed boost to the nation’s deteriorating infrastructure, there are growing concerns in transportation circles that the pot of gold may be a lot smaller than originally thought.

The Environmental Protection Agency, as proposed, has formally required new heavy trucks to have warning lights that indicate when engine emission controls are malfunctioning or deteriorating, starting in 2010.

Swift Corp. said that Richard Stocking has been promoted to president and chief operating officer of its truckload carrier Swift Transportation Co., effective immediately.

The U.S. retail diesel average declined 3.6 cents to $2.291 a gallon last week, the 14th consecutive drop, but analysts warned that fleets’ fuel costs are poised to start rising again.

WASHINGTON — A national commission studying transportation infrastructure funding is set to recommend that Congress raise fuel taxes now but eventually replace them with levies based on miles traveled.

The Teamsters union said employees at YRC Worldwide Inc. have approved a landmark 10% wage cut to help reduce costs as the largest less-than-truckload carrier struggles with falling tonnage in a weak economy.

The Washington state Department of Transportation plans to reopen a 20-mile stretch of Interstate 5 Friday afternoon near Chehalis, Wash., that was closed for two days due to heavy flooding, the Associated Press reported.

Plans by some states for spending on new highways may undermine the planned economic stimulus, which would focus on existing roads and new transit systems, Bloomberg reported.