Business

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Lisa Jackson will step down after four years with the agency, Bloomberg reported.

The International Longshoremen's Association and East and Gulf coast port operators have agreed to attend a meeting before the current contract expires on Dec. 29, according to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

Consumer confidence declined in December, the New York-based Conference Board said Thursday.

New home sales rose 4.4% in November to a two-year high, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

Sales of Class 8 used trucks and orders for new trailers fell in November from the previous month, according to ACT Research.

Initial jobless claims dropped by 12,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted last week to raise tolls for trucks and cars on its six bridges and two tunnels, effective March 1.

America’s natural-gas boom has the potential to be another big win — if we work together to do it the right way. But if we don’t get it right, substituting natural gas for diesel in our longhaul trucking fleet could just as easily become a losing proposition for everyone concerned.

This was a year of generally steady, but modest, gains for the economy as a whole — and trucking in particular — as detailed in this issue of Transport Topics.