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Lawmakers preserved language in a transportation funding bill that would block a federal pilot program allowing Mexican trucking companies to operate inside the United States, news services reported Friday.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. economy is likely to “slow noticeably” this quarter while high commodity prices and a weaker dollar may stoke inflation “for a time,” Bloomberg News reported Thursday.

Sometime in the near future, a new generation of supersized containerships — up to 50% larger than current vessels — will make its first appearance on the East Coast of the United States.

Intermodal freight volume declined by 2.2% during the third quarter, compared with last year, making it likely the sector will experience its first annual volume decline since 2001, according to the Intermodal Association of North America.

WASHINGTON — Federal investigators told Congress that the Department of Transportation’s drug- and alcohol-testing program for truck drivers is unreliable and riddled with problems.

The average price of a gallon of diesel in the United States jumped 14.6 cents last week, setting a new record high of $3.303 a gallon, the Energy Department reported. Last week’s diesel price, $3.157 a gallon, matched the old record, set Oct. 24, 2005.

The fuel price spiral has resumed, sending diesel and crude oil costs to never-before-seen levels, even as the economy stumbles along and fleets grapple with declining freight levels in 10 of the past 12 months.

Bill Davis Trucking, a truckload carrier based in Batesville, Ark., filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Act late last month.