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A new Department of Transportation study hints that the Obama administration’s ambitious plans to increase heavy truck fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse gases emissions will likely rely on a combination of existing aerodynamic design technologies and future diesel engine modifications that have barely left the laboratory or are still under development.

Kansas’ move to become the 26th state to outlaw texting while driving has drawn praise from U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood for pushing the country past the halfway mark to a nationwide ban on the practice.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called Canada’s offer to pay up to $550 million for the U.S. side of a proposed new bridge between Detroit and Ontario “quite extraordinary,” the Canadian Press reported.

Consumer confidence grew this month to its highest level since March 2008, the New York-based Conference Board reported.

Flatbed carrier Boyd Bros. Transportation has ordered 325 trucks with 2010 engines from Navistar Inc., the manufacturer said Thursday.

This Editorial appears in the May 24 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

The Obama administration was set last week to outline a path to national fuel-economy standards for large trucks, bringing industry and government officials to the White House to announce a plan that could aim at driving habits as well as equipment changes to reduce fuel use.

Mexico’s president, Felipe Calderon, said last week that the United States and his nation would solve the countries’ ongoing trade dispute caused by the closure of the southern border to longhaul truck traffic.

The average price of retail diesel dipped 3.3 cents to $3.094 a gallon last week, the largest decline since Feb. 1, according to the Department of Energy.