Fuel

Competition among fuel-card providers to keep major fleets is intensifying as carriers seek to mitigate the $4-a-gallon cost of fuel by paying closer attention to how it’s purchased.

U.S. retail diesel prices set a record for the third consecutive week as the national average rose 3.4 cents a gallon to $4.177, according to data from the Department of Energy.

Hundreds of truck drivers descended on Washington Monday to protest high diesel prices, WRC-4 television reported on its Web site.

WASHINGTON — The government should not only stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, but also consider releasing oil to help lower the price of diesel fuel, Dave Berry, chairman of the American Trucking Associations’ environmental and energy policy committee, told Congress last week.

Truckload carriers are slashing capacity at the highest rate in a decade in an effort to bring supply and demand into balance as fuel prices skyrocket and demand withers, according to industry experts.

An unprecedented wave of exports, mostly to Russia, has cushioned a downturn in the Class 8 used-truck business, which has been hurt by high fuel prices and a weak freight market, according to industry executives.

U.S. retail fuel prices continued to soar into uncharted territory last week, as the average price of diesel jumped another 8.4 cents to $4.143 a gallon and gasoline gained 11.9 cents to $3.508, the Department of Energy reported.

Parts maker Commercial Vehicle Group said it earned $500,000, or 2 cents a share, in the first quarter, compared with $3 million, or 14 cents, a year ago.