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The average price of retail diesel fuel in the country dropped for the third straight week, this time by 4.1 cents a gallon to $2.98, the Department of Energy reported, bringing the price of trucking’s main fuel below $3 for the first time since late March.

Registrations of new Class 8 trucks in the United States totaled 25,635 in the first quarter, a 2.5% increase from a year earlier, R.L. Polk & Co. reported.

Trucking tonnage grew 9.4% in April above year-ago levels, the strongest monthly gain in more than five years and another sign of solid economic recovery, American Trucking Associations reported last week.

The Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association named Jeff Sims to succeed Richard Bowling as the group’s president, effective July 1.

Air and freight forwarder UTi Worldwide reported an increase in net income and revenue for its fiscal first quarter.

Logistics firm Pacer International has appointed Val Noel to oversee its intermodal operations temporarily after one of the company’s executives leaves in July.

President Obama’s recent announcement that he was kicking off a major effort to improve the fuel efficiency of commercial vehicles was welcome news to the trucking industry.

Reading the May 24 “Opinion” column on how hard it would be for the smaller freight brokers to exist with a higher bond, my heart goes out to them, but my sympathies run with the trucking companies that use these brokers, small or large.

What a difference a year makes: Just one year ago, trucking trade publications were reporting on truckload rates plummeting 27% over the previous year, trucking companies beating down shippers’ doors looking for business, carriers dealing with 50% to 100% excess capacity over the previous two years, and thousands of trucking companies going bankrupt.