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WASHINGTON — The first-ever proposed federal commercial truck fuel-efficiency and carbon emissions standard could cause an industry pre-buy before it becomes effective in 2014, or drive motor carriers to delay retirement of their fleets, a transportation consultant said.

In the wake of a federal proposal to replace driver logbooks with electronic onboard recorders at most motor carriers, technology companies said they are preparing for another round of meetings with federal officials to fine-tune the technical requirements for these devices.

Diesel rose for the 10th straight week, jumping 7.5 cents to $3.513 a gallon, while gasoline resumed its rise, the Department of Energy said.

Trucks hauled the vast majority of freight in the United States, according to the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

At Beaver Express Service in Woodward, Okla., near the state’s panhandle, company president Mike Stone spent most of last week trying to figure out which of his terminals, scattered across six states, could reopen after a record-breaking blizzard buried them.

UPS Inc. nearly doubled its fourth-quarter net earnings, which shot up to $1.12 billion as volumes and pricing improved across almost all business segments, the parcel carrier said Feb. 1.

The average price of a gallon of U.S. retail diesel rose for a ninth straight week, edging up 0.8 cent to $3.438, the Department of Energy reported.

The freight-trailer industry rebounded sharply during 2010, with orders more than doubling to 166,500 and shipments rising 52% over 2009 to 119,900 units, ACT Research Co. reported.

Two transport issues left over from the last Congress are moving in different directions on Capitol Hill in the early days of the current congressional session.

Rick Snyder, Michigan’s new governor, is forcefully pushing to accomplish what his predecessors failed to do — building a second bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, the busiest freight crossing in the United States.