Fuel

The U.S. average retail diesel price rose 3.2 cents a gallon last week to $2.528, the first increase in five weeks, the Department of Energy reported.

Our latest little honeymoon with fuel prices likely will end soon, as recent increases in the cost of crude oil work their way down to the retail pump.

Trucking groups hailed the decision by the National Conference on Weights and Measures not to proceed with proposals to regulate the temperature of retail fuel at the pump.

Wal-Mart Stores and UPS Inc. have separately pledged to support enterprise-wide reporting of greenhouse gas emissions, underscoring the emerging relevance of the carbon accounting field to motor carriers.

Diesel prices have dropped almost 50% since record levels last year, but fleets continue to work on cutting fuel costs, one of their largest expenses.

U.S. retail diesel prices dropped 4.6 cents last week to $2.496 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported — the fourth straight decline — but rising crude oil costs will soon lead to a reversal of that trend, a department analyst predicted.

Transport carriers are under pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but the long-term fuel savings a hybrid truck could deliver are out of sync with fiscal reality for companies forced by the recessionary economy to pinch every penny.

Forward Air Corp.’s second-quarter net income fell to $2.8 million, or 10 cents per share, compared with a profit of $12.1 million, or 42 cents, a year ago.