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Oil prices reached their highest level this year Friday as rising equity markets fueled speculation that the world economy is improving, Bloomberg reported.

Diesel prices rose for a fourth straight week, gaining 2.7 cents to its highest price in nine months, $2.652 a gallon, the Department of Energy said Aug. 17.

U.S. biodiesel production has been rocketing upward in each of the past 10 years and reached 690 million gallons last year, but industry officials and analysts said it would drop this year by half to 350 million gallons or as low as 250 million gallons.

The battle over how to best accomplish clean-truck programs for drayage fleets has moved from California ports and courtrooms to the halls of Congress.

California’s new emission-reduction rule for transport refrigeration units unfairly imposes air quality standards on out-of-state carriers, attorneys for American Trucking Associations and the Truckload Carriers Association told a federal appeals court.

Towne Air Freight said it has acquired Texas Land and Air to establish a presence in that state and widen its service offerings.

In the face of growing pressure on the federal government to regulate oil markets and trading, the Federal Trade Commission has issued a new rule that could result in fines of up to $1 million if traders or companies are found manipulating fuel markets.

The average retail price of a gallon of diesel in the United States rose 7.5 cents last week to $2.625, the highest level this year, the Energy Department reported.