NewGen Fuel opened the first renewable fuel blender pump station in the U.S. in Topeka, Kan., on Jan.28.

Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Adrian Polansky also announced on Jan. 28 in a news release that he is making permanent the guidelines his department developed for the NewGen Fuel pilot project to allow at-the-pump blending of biofuels.

ICM Inc., Crescent Oil Company and POET collaborated on creating NewGen Fuel, and opening the station that offers E10, E20, E30, E50 and E85 fuel through blender pump technology, widening options for local flex fuel vehicle owners. Most Kansas stations that sell ethanol fuel only offer E10 and E85 blends.

Freight hauler USA Truck, Inc. reported a 2.9 percent decrease to $92.9 million in base revenue for the fourth quarter 2008 compared with the comparable year-ago period, with Clifton R. Beckham, company president and CEO, pointing to a dismal economy for the decline.

“Freight conditions during the fourth quarter were quite possibly the most challenging that we have ever experienced and that opinion is supported by several truckload industry indices and an avalanche of macroeconomic indicators,” said Beckham.

The CEO of the Van Buren, Ark.-based company said the decline in diesel fuel prices during the quarter “was not sufficient to offset deteriorating freight demand throughout the quarter. Beckham said that it is the company’s belief that “lower diesel prices provided a working capital boost to marginal carriers during the quarter, thus allowing them to continue their operations thereby exacerbating the imbalance between industry truck supply and freight demand.”