Business

An index of the U.S. economy’s service sector slipped in May from a month earlier but continued to show expansion, the Institute for Supply Management said Wednesday.

The only way fuel prices will ever come back down to reasonable levels is for our nation’s truckers to park their rigs for three to seven days. Even drivers for major companies would need to park and refuse to drive.

Crude oil continued its recent slide Wednesday, falling $2 to close at $122.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Bloomberg reported.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued an advisory warning that the popular prescription smoking-cessation drug Chantix may adversely affect commercial drivers’ ability to operate their vehicles safely.

First-quarter U.S. worker productivity rose 2.6% from the previous quarter, up from an earlier estimate, the Labor Department said Wednesday.

Just days after a new report recommended improvements to drug-testing programs that could better identify illegal drug users and keep them off the road, Reps. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.), John Mica (R-Fla.) and Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) announced their intention to introduce legislation aimed at establishing a national clearinghouse of positive drug-test results.

The Ontario Trucking Association said that a joint meeting this week of the Ontario and Quebec government cabinets moved them closer to accord on trucking issues such as implementing speed limiter legislation and allowing for longer combination vehicles.

General Motors Corp. is closing four North American truck and sport utility vehicle plants, in light of high fuel prices that are pushing consumers to smaller vehicles, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.