Fuel

Diesel prices rose for a fourth straight week, gaining 2.7 cents to its highest price in nine months, $2.652 a gallon, the Department of Energy said Aug. 17.

Oil prices reached their highest level this year Friday as rising equity markets fueled speculation that the world economy is improving, Bloomberg reported.

Oil rose to near a two-month high of more than $72 a barrel early Thursday, a day after jumping more than $3, Bloomberg reported.

California’s new emission-reduction rule for transport refrigeration units unfairly imposes air quality standards on out-of-state carriers, attorneys for American Trucking Associations and the Truckload Carriers Association told a federal appeals court.

Towne Air Freight said it has acquired Texas Land and Air to establish a presence in that state and widen its service offerings.

A proposed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule designed to expand biofuel use actually has brought the biodiesel market “to a grinding halt,” because it does not allow most blends of soy oil, according to the National Biodiesel Board.

In the face of growing pressure on the federal government to regulate oil markets and trading, the Federal Trade Commission has issued a new rule that could result in fines of up to $1 million if traders or companies are found manipulating fuel markets.

The average retail price of a gallon of diesel in the United States rose 7.5 cents last week to $2.625, the highest level this year, the Energy Department reported.