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CINCINNATI — Truck and engine makers said that meeting the federal government’s greenhouse-gas standards that take effect in 2017 while still complying with the 2010 emissions rule is a difficult challenge and could result in more “hard programming” of engine settings and fewer choices for fleets in their tractors.

U.S. average diesel prices dropped 8.6 cents last week, the largest decrease in almost four years, to $4.03 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported. Meanwhile, analysts said they were not expecting any lasting increases in prices as a result of Hurricane Sandy.

The trucking industry in the Northeast was scrambling last week in the wake of Hurricane Sandy to assess the damage to fleet facilities and roadways and to determine which customers were ready to accept deliveries.

The U.S. Department of Transportation released $10 million in emergency funds to New Jersey and $2 million to Connecticut to repair  roads damaged by Hurricane Sandy.

The American Transportation Research Institute is asking trucking executives to weigh in on changes to the 34-hour restart provision of the federal hours-of-service rule, set to take effect in July.

Factory orders rose 4.8% in September, the most since March 2011, the Commerce Department said Friday.

U.S. employers added 171,000 jobs in October and the unemployment rate ticked up a tenth of a point to 7.9% as more people entered the labor force, the Labor Department reported Friday.

UPS Inc. said Friday it has pledged $1.5 million in cash and in-kind support to help recovery efforts to areas damaged by Hurricane Sandy.

The federal government waived a shipping law and the states of New York and New Jersey waived fuel restrictions Friday as they ramped up efforts to quickly move diesel and gasoline supplies into the two states hit hardest by Hurricane Sandy.