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Every industry has its early adopters and its bellwethers — companies and executives who embrace new technologies and philosophies long before most of their competitors are willing to move.

A leading Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee proposed taxing speculative oil trades to kill two birds with one stone: Boost highway funding and reduce the effect of speculation on fuel prices.

YRC Worldwide and Teamsters union met last week to talk about cost reductions intended to help the largest less-than-truckload carrier lower its expenses and return to profitability.

Navistar Inc. closed its sole heavy-duty truck plant in North America outside Mexico when the union contract expired and said it would reopen the factory in Chatham, Ontario, only if a new agreement was reached that gave it “flexibility” over production and allowed Navistar to run a “much smaller operation.”

U.S. orders for new trailers put in their best two-month performance in a year through May, leading original equipment manufacturers to express cautious optimism for their industry. However, major OEMs would not declare the recession at an end.

In a vote divided largely along party lines, the House last week narrowly passed an energy bill that calls for the United States to reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions by 17% from 2005 levels by 2020 and includes a controversial cap-and-trade provision. The vote sends the measure to the Senate, where it likely faces a tough and long battle.

The Environmental Protection Agency last week approved California’s request for a federal waiver, allowing the state to immediately implement restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions from new cars and light trucks and reversing a Bush administration decision.

In the four months since President Obama signed a more than $770 billion stimulus package, House transportation leaders said states have approved projects that would distribute more than half of the money available for road and bridge projects.

With the White House standing in his path and a pair of well-placed senators lining up with the administration, the guessing game in Washington is how long House Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar can keep his six-year highway reauthorization bill alive in Congress.