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Infrastructure and trade loom large for trucking in the year ahead as freight carriers adjust to a slower, but still positive, rate of economic growth in 2019, according to industry experts interviewed by Transport Topics.

The projected $2.70 a gallon pump price for 2019 is 3 cents lower than 2018 levels, although this year’s high could reach $3 as soon as May and top $4 in some cities, according to GasBuddy’s Price Fuel Outlook. The lower prices have not escaped Trump’s attention, who equated them to a tax cut in a tweet Jan. 1.

The U.S. average retail price of diesel dropped 2.9 cents to $3.048 a gallon, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported, as crude oil prices hovered around $45 per barrel.

The U.S. may be exporting natural gas at a record clip, but that hasn’t stopped it from accepting new imports. A tanker with fuel from Nigeria is sitting near the Cove Point import terminal in Maryland, while a second ship with Russian gas is idling outside Boston Harbor.

The U.S. average retail price of diesel dropped 4.4 cents to $3.077 a gallon, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported, as crude oil prices lingered below $50 per barrel.

BILLINGS, Mont. — President Donald Trump’s administration miscalculated the potential benefits of putting better brakes on trains that haul explosive fuels when it scrapped an Obama-era rule over cost concerns, The Associated Press has found. A government analysis used to justify the cancellation omitted up to $117 million in estimated future damages from train derailments that could be avoided by using electronic brakes.

The U.S. oil industry is delivering a one-two punch to Middle East producers already reeling from a collapse in prices. A tussle is playing out in the market for so-called light oils, which have a lower sulfur content and are less dense than heavier varieties.

China signaled its openness for business with a raft of deals that’ll give oil majors, including Royal Dutch Shell Plc, new opportunities to develop fields in partnership with the nation’s biggest offshore explorer.

Oil was boosted to near $52 a barrel by a weak U.S. dollar while investors weighed if OPEC and its allies can successfully re-balance the market.

Sensing the impetus for considering a long-term infrastructure funding bill when the new Congress convenes in less than a month, key House and Senate policymakers have started to outline proposals for what would be a massive piece of legislation.