Business

CINCINNATI — A strengthening freight market is leading to higher freight rates, and more loads are going unclaimed, attendees at the National Private Truck Council’s annual management conference said. 

James “Whit” Whittinghill, the one-time chief lobbyist for American Trucking Associations, died April 15 at his home in Arlington, Va. He was 57.

Arkansas Best Corp.’s ABF Freight System and the Teamsters union said they have reached agreement on a 15% wage reduction to help the less-than-truckload carrier cope with losses triggered by the recession. 

FedEx Corp. and UPS Inc. again have access to their European hub airports after spending nearly a week of enduring flight cancellations and seeking ground-based transportation alternatives after a volcano in Iceland began spewing hot ash into the skies over the continent, closing airports and stilling the movement of air freight.

New orders for Class 8 trucks in March rose 28% from a year earlier, the second month in a row they have climbed, as buyers put requests for 11,285 new vehicles on the books, according to ACT Research Co. 

The average price of retail diesel in the United States rose a half-cent last week to $3.074 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported, slowing a two-month run-up that has sent diesel over $3 for the first time since November 2008.

Daimler Trucks North America won a new series of three-year labor contracts covering three North Carolina truck plants making heavy- and medium-duty Freightliners and parts for the trucks.

Navistar International Corp. has withdrawn a lawsuit that it had filed against the California Air Resources Board, following an agreement with CARB that addressed the engine-related issues that prompted its original court action.