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As if a slowing economy, depressed housing and auto markets and sharply rising consumer prices aren’t bad enough news for trucking, fuel prices are skyrocketing again.

Consumer personal spending rose at a rate of 0.4% in January, the Commerce Department said Friday.

With fuel prices at a record and the economy teetering at the brink of a recession that could cut into carrier revenue, some truckload carriers are pushing harder for savings by using lighter trailers, limiting idling to save fuel and shortening trade-in cycles.

The British Columbia government is planning to impose a carbon tax on fossil fuels beginning on July 1, the most comprehensive tax of its kind in North America.

The average retail price of diesel fuel jumped 15.6 cents a gallon to a new record of $3.552 last week, more than 10 cents above the previous record, which was set Nov. 26.

Truck tonnage in January posted its biggest gain since the beginning of 2005, climbing 5.3% above year-ago levels and marking the third consecutive increase for the monthly index, American Trucking Associations reported Feb. 26.

Canadian transportation firm TransForce Income Fund said Thursday it lost C$30.8 million, or 36 cents a share, in the fourth-quarter as a result of a C$56 million write-off of goodwill associated with the Fund’s Oilfield Services division.

The U.S. economy expanded at a 0.6 % annual growth rate in the fourth quarter, unchanged from last month’s preliminary estimate, according to a revised figure issued Thursday by the Commerce Department.