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More U.S. companies plan to raise boost prices and limit hiring as a continuing surge in raw-material costs crimps profits, according to a new business survey, Bloomberg reported Monday.

Forward Air Corp. said its second-quarter profit rose to $12.1 million, or 42 cents a share, from $11.5 million, or 38 cents, a year ago.

The Environmental Protection Agency issued a nearly 600-page request for public comment on whether it should use existing law to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, a decision one trucking official said was a way to further delay any new regulations until after President Bush leaves office.

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. said two California environmental agencies awarded grants totaling more than $11 million to further the development of natural gas fueling stations and vehicles.

The Environmental Protection Agency said Monday it will award $3.4 million in grants to establish projects using emerging technologies to reduce emissions from the diesel engine fleets.

Diesel engine maker Cummins Inc. said Friday it concluded joint ventures with two companies and that it will purchase a stake in a North Carolina engine company, which will become a Cummins unit.

Moving company Sirva Inc. said it has appointed Wes Lucas its new chief executive officer, succeeding Robert Tieken, who the company said led it through its successful financial reorganization.

The U.S. retail diesel average rose 3.7 cents last week to another record, $4.764 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported, while the price of crude oil posted its largest single-day drop in 17 years on July 15.

Behind this year’s surge in trucking company failures, brought on largely by the double-whammy of slow freight and skyrocketing fuel prices, is another ominous trend: a sharp increase in the number of motor carriers asking larger competitors to buy them out.