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Registrations of all new trucks in the United States totaled 79,800 in the first quarter — a drop of 40% from a year earlier — according to the latest survey by R.L. Polk & Co. The quarter included the worst-ever single month for heavy-duty registrations on record, the company said.

An appeals court has upheld federal rules requiring “direct observation” of drug tests for transportation workers who either have failed or refused to take a test as a condition of employment.

Rising crude oil prices helped drive the average U.S. retail price of diesel fuel up 4.3 cents last week to $2.274 a gallon, while higher demand tied to increased summer driving pushed gasoline up nearly three times as much, the Energy Department reported.

Truck and engine manufacturer Navistar Inc. has challenged the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to certify heavy-duty diesel engines using selective catalytic reduction to meet the agency’s 2010 standards for emissions of nitrogen oxides.

The U.S. economy contracted at an annual rate of 5.7% in the first quarter, a slight improvement from the 6.1% downturn reported last month, the Commerce Department said Friday.

U.S. consumer confidence has improved to the highest level since September, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan monthly consumer sentiment index released Friday.

Manufacturing activity in the Chicago declined in April, showing contraction for a seventh straight month, the Institute for Supply Chain Management-Chicago said Friday.

Truckers who pull refrigerated trailers into and around California have less than two months to prep for a rule that requires the small diesel engines that power older reefers to meet a state emission standard.

Intelligrated Inc. said Thursday it will acquire the U.S. operations FKI Logistex Holdings for $40 million in a cash deal with Melrose PLC, a British turnaround specialized, the Associated Press reported.