Business
Transport Topics business coverage focuses on the financial, economic, and commercial aspects of the modern freight business. Looking at both the microeconomic and macroeconomic forces shaping bottom lines, the news in this category includes labor news, jobs reports, tonnage and sales indicators, operations analysis, money and banking, mergers, acquisitions, e-commerce, bankruptcy, insurance issues, and more.
Diesel Slips 10¢ to $2.515
The average retail price of U.S. diesel fuel dropped for the 10th consecutive week, the Department of Energy reported, but the gap between diesel and gasoline price reached the widest spread since the agency began publishing diesel prices in 1994.
December 15, 2008Consumer Sentiment Index Rises After 28-Year Low
U.S. consumer confidence improved this month after last month's 28-year low, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan’s preliminary monthly consumer sentiment index, released Friday.
December 12, 2008DOT Releases Early Fatality Data
The Department of Transportation said highway deaths fell 10% for the first 10 months of 2008 and said it expects fatalities to be at an all-time low when the full year totals are calculated.
December 12, 2008Business Inventories Take Largest Drop in Five Years
Business inventories fell 0.6% in October, the largest decline in five years, the Commerce Department said Friday.
December 12, 2008Retail Sales Fall by For Fifth Straight Month
Retail sales fell 1.8% in November, the fifth consecutive month of decline, led by a continued drop in automobile and gasoline sales, the Commerce Department said Friday.
December 12, 2008Intermodal Traffic Falls for Week
Rail and intermodal traffic fell last week from a year ago, the Association of American Railroads said.
December 12, 2008California Eyes Requiring Particulate Filters on All Heavy Trucks
California regulators are considering a first-in-the-nation plan that would require almost all privately owned heavy-duty trucks in the state to install particulate filters to reduce soot emissions by 85%, the San Jose Mercury News reported Thursday.
December 11, 2008Obama Chooses Heads of DOE, EPA
President-elect Barack Obama has chosen the Nobel-prize-winning head of a California research institute and a former New Jersey environmental official to fill his cabinet positions heading the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
December 11, 2008Cummins Lowers Earnings Forecast
Diesel engine maker Cummins Inc. lowered its 2008 sales and profit forecast, due to “significant declines” in demand.
December 11, 2008Wabash to Lay Off 800 Workers Due to Slowdown
Wabash National Corp. said it will lay off 800 employees at its Lafayette, Ind., factory following a two-week holiday shutdown ending Jan. 5.
December 11, 2008