Hopes for an economic recovery and the looming threat of government regulations will be main themes as the Truckload Carriers Association and Natso, the national association representing truck stops and travel plazas, hold their annual conferences from Feb. 27 to March 3 at separate locations in Las Vegas.

Diesel prices largely held steady last week, with the national average price per gallon at $2.835, falling just 1.7 cents from the previous week, according to AAA’s daily price report for Feb. 11.

China National Heavy Duty Trunk Group Co., that country’s largest heavy truck producer, sold 16,653 vehicles in January, up more than 300% from a year earlier, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

Confidence among U.S. small businesses increased in January for the first time in three months as the outlook for sales improved, the National Federation of Independent Business reported.

The Obama administration last week proposed a $4 billion “down payment” on a national infrastructure bank to supplement traditional highway funding, as part of its $78.8 billion budget proposal for the Department of Transportation.

We almost made it through 2009 without another national news exposé of the trucking industry, but then came November and December. This time, the focus was on truck driver training and motor carrier employment practices.

Transportation and third-party logistics firm C.H. Robinson Worldwide reported a fourth-quarter profit of $87.7 million, or 52 cents a share, down slightly from $88.9 million, or 52 cents a share, a year ago.

Logistics, intermodal and brokerage firm Hub Group’s fourth-quarter profit fell to $10 million, or 26 cents a share, from $14.2 million, or 38 cents, a year ago.