Business

The annual National Truck Driver Association Week began Sunday and will run through Saturday, American Trucking Associations said.

Dennis Shirar, a driver with Indianapolis-based Heritage Transport who has driven 3 million accident-free miles, was named the 2008 National Truck Driving Grand Champion, American Trucking Associations said.

UPS Inc.’s less-than-truckload unit UPS Freight said Monday it has improved transit times on more than 1,200 traffic lanes in the Midwest, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.

Existing homes sales rose 3.1% in July, the National Association of Realtors said Monday.

Independent engine manufacturer Cummins Inc. continued increasing its market share in heavy-duty engines during the first half of 2008, while sales by competitor Caterpillar Inc. dwindled, WardsAuto.com reported.

Oil rose slightly in early trading Monday following a big drop Friday to below $115 a barrel, Bloomberg reported.

Freight carriers are preparing for a relatively weak peak shipping season this year as major retailers react to sluggish economic growth by cutting back on imports and reducing the volume of goods that typically move by truck and rail during what is usually the busiest shipping period in the third and fourth quarters.

Growth in the nation’s fleet of Class 8 trucks ground to a halt during the second quarter, as U.S. registrations for vehicles in operation rose by just 0.75%, according to R.L. Polk & Co.

Whether the product is laundry detergent or basketballs or almost anything else, changing the way things are packaged to make the most out of a trailer’s space is introducing a little-noticed structural change to the trucking industry.

The U.S. retail diesel average fell another 14.6 cents to $4.207 a gallon last week, extending the most pronounced drop in two years to a fifth consecutive week, the Department of Energy reported.