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A long-term government study on the effects of diesel exhaust raises more questions about the fuel than answers, say spokesmen for the trucking industry and diesel technology.

By using the Internet to cut deals, the transportation industry is likely to have virtual consolidation without physical consolidation, according to several speakers at a conference on electronic commerce and transportation.

Mark your calendars for Dec. 31 and prepare to party at the Big Dig in Boston.

Aggressive actions in the face of soaring fuel costs have kept profits growing for United Parcel Service, which announced a third quarter increase in net income of $125 million, or 22% over last year at this time.

That was a pretty short honeymoon we had with lower fuel prices. After two straight weeks of price declines, we’re back in the soup: last week brought another national record high price for diesel fuel; a 24-year low for U.S. petroleum distillate inventories; retail diesel approaching $2 a gallon in places; and more reports of economic woes from truckers.

Fuel prices remain at the top of the list of challenges facing Canadian general freight carriers today. Because of geography, operational differences and the fact that Canadian fuel prices are higher than in the United States, fuel costs are an even larger proportion of total costs for Canadian carriers than for their U.S. counterparts.

Carriers in Canada are facing increased federal government scrutiny of safety as a result of efforts by Transport Canada, the agency that provides a national umbrella for oversight of the Canadian trucking industry, to harmonize the National Safety Code amongst the nation’s various jurisdictions and coordinate the formulation of new hours-of-service rules.

Trucking in Canada appears to be headed for a generational collision at the crossroads of aging drivers and new technology. However, Centennial College’s School of Transportation, with help from the industry and the government, is providing the fixtures needed to navigate through the intersection that will decide the direction for many.

For truckers who want to conserve fuel and economize on their bottom line, Natural Resources Canada has come up with a couple of “smart” ideas that officials claim are both practical and effective.

Two things make the trip from Anchorage to the oil and natural gas production site on Alaska’s North Slope memorable. One is the size and weight of the single-unit payloads — prefabricated buildings that weigh as much as 100 tons. The other is successfully completing the trip.