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U.S. consumer confidence rose slightly this month, but still remains near a 28-year low, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan’s preliminary monthly consumer sentiment index released Friday.

In a scenario eerily reminiscent of the Bill Murray movie “Groundhog Day,” a coalition of interest groups has again launched a formal legal challenge to the government’s hours-of-service rules for commercial drivers.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week took the first step toward creating a national cap-and-trade system, proposing a new rule that would establish a federal system for reporting carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases produced by large stationary and mobile sources.

President Obama signed legislation last week that killed the Transportation Department’s controversial test of longhaul cross-border trucking with Mexico, but the administration signaled it was open to resurrecting a program in the future.

The U.S. retail diesel fuel average dropped 4.2 cents last week to $2.045 a gallon, as the price in the Midwest fell below $2, the first time that has occurred anywhere in more than four years, the Department of Energy reported.

In its continued attack on greenhouse gas emissions, the California Air Resources Board recently proposed a rule cutting the “carbon intensity” of transportation fuels.

The new chairman of the Technology & Maintenance Council, Steph Sabo, said that during his term, his top priority will be reaching out to segments of the trucking industry that aren’t familiar with the group in hopes of signing up new members.

For the third time in five years, a coalition of interest groups has asked a federal court to overturn the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s rule governing the length of time truckers can drive and work.

Democratic leaders in the House and Senate last week formally introduced the Employee Free Choice Act, the first shot in what is expected to be a fierce battle between organized labor and the business community, including American Trucking Associations.