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U.S. diesel prices climbed in 2011 to an average of $3.84 per gallon as of Dec. 12, about 85 cents higher than last year, and topped the $4 mark in April, May and November.

Despite reports about costly congestion and the deteriorating state of America’s roads and bridges, Congress failed for the third consecutive year to produce a long-term surface transportation spending plan.

Trucking equities joined the rest of the stock market in going through sharp volatility this year — improving, crashing and then clawing their way back — so that as 2011 drew to a close, six key indexes had moved less than 8% up or down over the course of 12 months.

Trucking continued to rebuild both freight volumes and profits in 2011 while the general U.S. economic growth crept forward at a slower pace.

Trucking familiarized itself with the federal government’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program in 2011, discovering major changes the safety program causes within the industry and its partners.

For truckers, 2011 was a year full of expectations. Some of them were fulfilled, but many were not. The economy continued to grow, but slowly, and not enough to put a serious dent in unemployment. However, there was enough growth to put trucks back on the road and allow carriers to raise freight rates.

A heavy snowstorm that has closed highways in five states continued to move across the Southwest and Great Plains on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.

Carriers are increasingly optimistic that 2012 will bring both higher volume and rates, a new survey by Transport Capital Partners found.

Housing starts jumped 9.3% in November to their highest level in more than a year and a half, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.