������ý

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Truck makers and their suppliers returned to marketing products here that intrigue drivers and appeal to fleet executives based on durability, comfort, ease of operation and even pizzazz, after years spent surviving the Great Recession and straining to meet government-imposed emissions requirements.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood defended his earlier pronouncement of the equality of non-motorized modes of transportation, saying they are “what the people want,” and that a key part of the administration’s livability program was getting “gas-guzzling trucks” off the road.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Cummins Inc., the only remaining independent truck engine builder, said last week that it will use federal emissions credits to meet new government pollution standards with its 2010 models.

Business groups, including American Trucking Associations, said they had concerns about the recently enacted health-care reform package.

Truck tonnage rose 2.6% in February, the third consecutive year-over-year increase, as the industry continues a steady rebound, American Trucking Associations reported.

The White House Office of Management and Budget said last week it signed off on an electronic on-board recorders rule, clearing the way for the regulation to be published soon in the Federal Register.

The U.S. retail diesel average increased 2.2 cents to $2.946 a gallon last week for its fifth straight increase, the Department of Energy reported. Diesel now has jumped 19 cents a gallon since Feb. 15, when it was at $2.756.

Pension legislation garnered renewed attention in Washington last week as a senator offered a bill to aid struggling multi-employer plans, and companies, including Con-way Inc., pressed for more time to beef up their plan funding.

U.S. consumer confidence held steady this month, according to the latest Reuters/University of Michigan monthly consumer sentiment index released Friday.