Transportation Topics

The U.S. trade deficit widened by $7.9 billion in June, the biggest increase since records began being kept in 1992, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve voted for the 14th straight time to keep a key U.S. interest rate at a record low "target range" of zero to 0.25%.

The Department of Energy said diesel will average justnbsp;below $3 a gallon this year, in line with its previous forecasts, but will climb over that level in 2011.

"Alto! ¿Habla usted español?" Imagine this scenario: You and your rig cross the border into Mexico. Along the highway, the police stop you. You haven't broken any laws, but you're nervous. Your Spanish is enough to get by, but not all Mexican police officers speak fluent English.

U.S. workers' productivity decreased second-quarter, the first drop since the end of 2008, the Labor Department said Tuesday.

Wholesale inventories rose 0.1% in June, while sales fell, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

Spurred by higher oil prices, diesel's national average retail price rose for a third straight week, jumping 6.3 cents to $2.991 a gallon, its biggest increase in four months, the Department of Energy said.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Con-way Freight driver Carl Krites was named Grand Champion at the National Truck Driving Championships Saturday, beating more than 400 truck driversnbsp;in taking the title.

Japanese firm UD Trucks Corp., a unit of Volvo AB, will invest about $60 million to set up a commercial vehicle diesel engine production line near Tokyo, Bloomberg reported Monday.

Truck stop chain TravelCenters of America reported a second-quarter profit Monday of $1.17 million, or 7 cents a share, compared with a loss of $15.04 million, or 90 cents, a year ago.

Canadian transportation firm Mullen Group posted a second-quarter loss of C$6.2 million or 7 cents per share, compared with a profit of C$17.8 million, or 22 cents, a year ago.

Weekly intermodal rail traffic jumped 20.2% last week, reaching the highest levels of the year, the Association of American Railroads reported.

UPS Inc. plans to open two health-care-logistics hubs in Singapore and China to tap rising regional demand for medical devices and drugs, Bloomberg reportednbsp;Friday.

Navistar Inc.'s top executive and its former finance chief will return more than $2 million in bonus pay to the company as part of a deal to settle federal charges of accounting misconduct.

The U.S. unemployment rate held at 9.5% in July as total payrolls fell, and the trucking industry's payrolls jumped by almost 6,000, the Labor Department said Friday.

The U.S. Postal Service lost $3.5 billion in its fiscal third quarter, more than $1 billion more than it lost in the same period a year ago, the Associated Press reported.

A trio of senators introduced a bill that would allow states to increase the maximum weight for trucks operating on their interstates beyond the federal limit of 80,000 pounds.

Roadrunner Transportation Systems, which went public in May, released its first public earnings statement, saying it posted a second-quarter loss, though its trucking sectors showed improvement.

Consumer confidence fell this month to the lowest level since November, according to the latest Reuters/University of Michigan monthly consumer sentiment index released Friday.

Supply chain technology firm Intermec Inc. said its second-quarter net earnings loss was $2.7 million, or 4 cents per share, compared with a loss of $6.5 million, or 11 cents, a year ago.