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We all got half a loaf when President Obama signed the new highway bill into law on July 6.

North American Class 8 truck orders fell 22.3% in June from a year earlier to 16,500, the lowest monthly figure since September 2010, according to preliminary data from ACT Research Co.

President Obama signed a new transportation reauthorization law on July 6 that drew measured praise from truckers, shippers, road builders and others who said they were relieved a new law was enacted, even if it does not address long-term funding for the nation’s highway system.

The average price of a gallon of diesel fuel in the United States rose 3.5 cents a gallon last week to $3.683, the first increase in three months, the U.S. Department of Energy reported.

Rising prices for older-model used trucks have forced sellers to come up with new approaches to make tractors more affordable, according to industry executives.

Navistar International Corp.’s new plan to meet federal emissions standards by adding an engine technology it previously disparaged is raising a wide range of questions, according to industry analysts.

Trucking has emerged from the economic recession leaner and more profitable, and many executives of the nation’s largest for-hire carriers are now making a more concerted effort to address the long-standing issue of driver turnover.

This story appears in the July 16 print edition of Transport Topics.

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Intermodal shipments that surged late in the second quarter have pushed 2012 truck/rail freight volume ahead of the record pace set in 2006, the Association of American Railroads reported.

TOOELE, Utah — As soon as Daimler Trucks offers its North American customers a new part or system, the corporation’s remanufacturing unit, Detroit Reman, is already figuring out how to get used versions of them as soon as possible, so the division can remanufacture them and sell them on the aftermarket.

Second-quarter trucking earnings are expected to show that higher freight rates and lower fuel prices helped most publicly traded fleets notch better results than a year ago, analysts said.