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ORLANDO, Fla. — Uncertainty about the life cycle of key emission control components and higher maintenance costs have emerged as the top concerns fleets have with 2007 heavy-duty diesel engines, maintenance and equipment heads at several major carriers said here.

Westport Innovations said Tuesday that Wal-Mart Stores will introduce four liquefied natural gas-fueled Peterbilt 386 trucks at its distribution center in Apple Valley, Calif.

Volvo Trucks North America said Monday it will offer a heavy-duty engine made by Cummins Inc. that is certified for 2010 emissions standards for its Volvo VN Class 8 trucks, extending an existing agreement between the two.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s fiscal year 2009 budget request includes $49.2 million in clean diesel grants, EPA said Monday following the release of President Bush’s budget.

Crude oil prices fell for a third trading day in pre-market trading Monday, with futures falling almost $1 to $88.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg reported.

WASHINGTON — The Democratic chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, in a speech to American Trucking Associations’ winter meeting here, delivered a scathing criticism of the Bush administration’s handling of transportation issues as he backed the report of a congressional commission that called for major federal spending on infrastructure funded by fuel-tax increases.

Truck buyers for some of the nation’s largest fleets are already contemplating their choices for the January 2010 generation of heavy-duty truck engines. Their challenge is matching the original equipment manufacturers they like with one of the two main technologies upon which the OEMs will rely.