Business

U.S. automakers said they are open to considering participation by auto haulers in the newly announced multibillion-dollar federal program aimed at stabilizing key parts suppliers.

Navistar International Corp. and Caterpillar Inc. announced an expansion of their growing relationship last week, revealing plans for a joint venture to sell trucks outside North America by the end of this year and unveiling their formal agreement to produce Caterpillar-branded heavy-duty vocational trucks here beginning late next year.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said an exemption to the federal hours-of-service rules granted to oil-field haulers will be applied based on what the truck is being used for.

The Massachusetts House of Representatives has joined the Senate in approving a reform plan for the state’s transportation system.

Increasing operating costs, declining revenues and tighter budgets have forced less-than-truckload carriers, private fleets and small-parcel carriers to eliminate unnecessary expenses — once they figure out which expenses those are.

Oil rose for a second day Thursday, rising almost $3 to close the trading day above $52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg reported.

Navistar International Corp. has withdrawn its protest over Pentagon procurement methods of buying all-terrain vehicles to be used by U.S. troops in Afghanistan, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

President Obama has named Chuck Hurley, the head of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, to lead the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the White House said on its Web site.

The price of goods imported to the United States rose 0.5% in March for the first increase in eight months, the Labor Department said Thursday.