Business

Heavy-duty U.S. retail truck sales slid for a second straight month in October, dropping 10.7% from a year ago, although the year-to-date volume remained well ahead of its 2011 pace and truck makers characterized the downturn as more of a modest, temporary retreat rather than a collapse.

Several lawmakers said last week they would consider raising fuel taxes to shore up the Highway Trust Fund, while an administration official warned against cutting transportation infrastructure programs because that could imperil public safety.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Mexico continues to become an increasingly desirable manufacturing and freight market for reasons ranging from more competitive labor costs to improved transportation infrastructure, carriers and their customers agreed at an industry meeting here.

A growing economy and a global shift in manufacturing are spurring investment in Mexico’s freight transportation industry, according to a recent study that said there is a $68.4 billion market for trucking services in Mexico.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Superstorm Sandy dramatized the need for better contingency planning to keep products flowing during a major disruption, a supply chain executive said at an industry meeting here last week.

WASHINGTON — Navistar International Corp. installed its first Cummins ISX15 engine in a ProStar Plus tractor on Nov. 15, with Chairman and CEO Lewis Campbell attending at the company’s Escobedo, Mexico, factory.

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. said it will purchase two liquefied natural gas plants from General Electric Co. as part of a new partnership between the two companies to develop LNG fueling infrastructure for the trucking industry, the firms announced last week.

The New York State Thruway’s board of directors last week canceled the second of two meetings within four days at which the board was to address a proposed 45% increase in toll rates for trucks.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Industry service awards were presented to American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves and retired J.B. Hunt Intermodal President Paul Bergant last week during the National Industrial Transportation League’s TransComp and the Intermodal Association of North America’s Expo.

The average price for a gallon of retail diesel declined for the fourth straight week, dipping 3 cents to $3.98, which put trucking’s main fuel below the $4 mark for the first time in three months, the Department of Energy reported.