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WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood rejected raising fuel taxes to pay for highway improvements and said that, despite pessimism about the prospects for a long-term highway bill, the administration was focused on completing a bill this year.

The American Transportation Research Institute released results of its study on greenhouse gas reporting tools and emissions models.

President Obama’s recent announcement that he was kicking off a major effort to improve the fuel efficiency of commercial vehicles was welcome news to the trucking industry.

American Trucking Associations, truck manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have urged the Senate to address a research and development bill on increasing fuel efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in medium- and heavy-duty trucks.

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.

Agents of the California Air Resources Board have fanned out to ticket truck operators who fail to comply with the state’s complicated schedule for reducing emissions from the small diesel engines that power transport refrigeration.

Review of the 2007 generation of diesel engines has been a very hot topic this year. At the annual American Trucking Associations Technology & Maintenance Council meeting, I was one of the panelists asked to score the performance of the 2007 engines based on TransAm’s experiences.

The huge ash cloud hanging over Europe from last week’s volcano eruption in Iceland is hampering global air freight and causing a shift in European cargo from planes to trucks, news services reported.