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Ontario trucking companies will be able to apply for provincial grants for anti-idling devices, thanks to a $C15 million program by the provincial government, the Ontario Trucking Association said Monday.

Construction spending fell 0.3% in September, the Commerce Department said Monday.

Specialty truck maker Oshkosh Corp. said Monday its fiscal fourth-quarter profit dropped 37% from a year ago, to $53.6 million, or 72 cents per share, from $85.4 million, or $1.14, a year ago.

Canadian transportation firm TransForce Inc. said its third-quarter net income slipped to C$26.5 million, or 31 cents per unit, from C$28.5 million, or 33 cents, a year ago.

The pace of trucking bankruptcies slowed during the third quarter — to 785 from 935 in the second quarter — but rather than signaling a turn, the decline was, as one analyst put it, “only a lull in the storm.”

Growth in U.S. truck tonnage slowed significantly in September as the national economy contracted during the third quarter, and a major freight-matching service said last week the spot market for truckload service fell well below year-ago levels as the fourth quarter got under way.

Despite passage of a $700 billion aid package intended to shore up depleted capital of large and small institutions, the near-collapse of U.S. financial markets is making it tougher for carriers to buy or lease equipment, and will force a reduction in the use of debt to pay for mergers and acquisitions.

The average price of U.S. retail diesel shed another 19.4 cents last week, dropping to $3.288 a gallon, while the gasoline average fell below year-ago levels for the first time in 2008, according to the Department of Energy.