Fuel

While the air at the Port of Los Angeles is cleaner, the owners of than two-thirds of the 2,200 drayage trucks purchased with $20,000 in port emissions reduction incentive grants face financial penalties because their trucks will not make the required minimum 300 gate moves during their first year of operation, port officials said.

Renewable Energy Group has acquired two biodiesel plants, making it North America's largest biodiesel manufacturer, the company said.

The Transportation Department announced last week it will drop some materials, including paint and diesel fuel, from the list of substances the agency considers dangerous enough to require hazmat motor carriers to file detailed security plans.

The average price for retail diesel rose for a third straight week, this time by 4.3 cents to $2.904 a gallon, to the highest level since November 2008, the Department of Energy reported.

Who is paying the legal costs for the Port of Los Angeles to pursue the “employee only” model? How much taxpayer money is being wasted on a lost cause that has been reviewed and re-reviewed in the courts?

The average retail price of U.S. diesel rose 2.9 cents last week, the second consecutive increase, pushing the cost of trucking’s main fuel to $2.861 a gallon, according to the Department of Energy.

California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District is offering incentive funding of up to $50,000 for the purchase of a diesel truck or up to $100,000 for the purchase of a natural gas truck, in return for scrapping an older Class 8 diesel truck, the agency said.