Business

Ruan Transportation Management Systems based in Des Moines, Iowa, has promoted Ben McLean to president and chief operating officer with responsibility for all of the company’s trucking and logistics operations nationwide.

The ranking Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee criticized the Obama administration for its handling of bridge safety reform, citing a DOT inspector general’s report for highlighting “shortcomings in federal oversight and management of highway bridge safety.”

American Trucking Associations and an industry coalition sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx urging that scores from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program be removed from its website.

New trailer orders rose 36.7% in July from a year ago, the strongest July since 2006, ACT Research reported.

Linda Bauer Darr, a Washington transportation trade group executive, will become president of the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association when current leader Richard Timmons retires at the end of 2014.

Consumer confidence in the U.S. unexpectedly climbed in August to the highest level in almost seven years, reinforcing signs of a strengthening outlook for the second half of 2014.

Orders for U.S. durable goods jumped in July by the most on record as bookings surged for commercial aircraft. Demand for business equipment eased after the biggest gain in seven months.

Diesel’s national average price fell for the eighth straight week, dipping 1.4 cents to $3.821 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported Aug. 25.

California transportation officials said the 6.0 magnitude earthquake that hit the town of Napa in the heart of the state’s wine producing region early Sunday morning left the infrastructure in the area north of San Francisco mostly unscathed.

The Port of Los Angeles is hosting the world’s largest floating rubber duck, which led the city’s Tall Ships Festival last week, as part of its world tour.