Heavy-duty engine manufacturers blasted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last week for allowing Navistar Inc. to pay penalties to sell engines that do not comply with 2010 emissions standards, saying the agency did not follow the law in determining the penalties.

The truckload industry, on the upswing as rates and freight rise, gathers for its annual meeting next week in Florida in a business environment that also includes unresolved questions such as the effects of more government regulation.

The Environmental Protection Agency has formally granted Navistar Inc. approval to pay up to a $1,900 penalty for each new heavy-duty engine it produces that is not compliant with 2010 federal emissions standards, the agency confirmed last week.

The Environmental Protection Agency is investigating whether Navistar Inc. completed assembly of 7,600 heavy-duty 2009 model truck engines in 2010, thereby making them noncompliant with current emission regulations.

American Trucking Associations has asked a federal appeals court to throw out the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s recently published hours-of-service rule and is likely to challenge specifically the rule’s 34-hour restart provision.

Federal regulators will not issue a final rule this year mandating electronic onboard recorders for nearly all interstate carriers, a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration spokeswoman confirmed last week.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will move forward in 2012 with regulations concerning medical examiners, a drug and alcohol clearinghouse for drivers and electronic onboard recorders, as well as changes to its Compliance, Safety, Accountability program, Administrator Anne Ferro said.

A new Oregon law that restricts truck idling took effect Sunday, the Associated Press reported.

Federal regulators retained the 11-hour driving limit for truck drivers, reversing their stated preference for 10 hours and rejecting arguments from labor and safety advocates that a change would reduce crash risk.

The National Transportation Safety Board pushed last week for a mandate that all heavy trucks have video event recorders to document crashes, reiterating a previous request.