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NEW YORK — Trucking executives said the uncertainty about new engine technology required to meet federal emissions standards next year would likely keep them from buying many trucks during 2010.

The national diesel fuel average rose 1.5 cents a gallon last week, while gasoline posted a much larger 6.9-cent jump, widening the gap between the two fuels as gas stockpiles declined ahead of the traditional Memorial Day start of summer driving season.

The Obama administration last week announced stricter requirements for automobile fuel efficiency and a first-ever national greenhouse gas reduction standard for cars and light trucks. Though heavy trucks are not immediately affected, an industry official suggested similar changes could be coming within the next decade.

With fuel prices dramatically lower than just a year ago, carriers that engage in hedging are questioning whether the market is close enough to a bottom to begin locking in prices, according to several fuel-purchasing analysts.

The Senate late Thursday confirmed Randy Babbit, former president of the Air Line Pilots Association, as the administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.

SAN DIEGO — A “perfect storm” of a nose-diving economy, high fuel prices and governmental missteps have all combined to ravage the trucking industry and the companies that supply its equipment, according to Jim Hebe, senior vice president of North American sales for Navistar Inc.

Details of the Environmental Protection Agency’s record $10.5 billion fiscal 2010 budget proposal — a 37% increase — quickly set off a partisan debate in Congress last week over the agency’s plans to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.