Business

Vitran Corp. said it bought retail supply chain management firm Las Vegas/L.A. Express, based in Ontario, Calif., for about $12.6 million.

Cummins Inc., the largest foreign investor in the Chinese diesel engine industry, received an order for 1,900 bus engines from transit agencies in China, Bloomberg reported.

A winter storm blamed for at least 11 deaths in the Midwest wreaked havoc on Northeast roads Monday with a mix of rain, sleet and snow, the Associated Press reported.

Exxon Mobil Corp. said it will partner with two other companies and an Israeli university to build a commercial lift-truck application powered by fuel cells from hydrogen produced in the truck.

The number of U.S. heavy-duty trucks on the nation’s roads climbed to 3.59 million in the third quarter, a 3.2% increase over last year and a slight increase over the second quarter gain of 2.2%.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said it sent its revised hours-of-service rule to the White House for review last week and Administrator John Hill said he expected to announce details shortly.

Truck tonnage hauled in October declined 1.5% compared with the same month in 2006 — the 14th decline in 16 months — American Trucking Associations said.

The national average price of diesel pushed past a record level for the third time in four weeks, rising 3.4 cents a gallon to $3.444, the Department of Energy reported.

FedEx Corp. said Friday it will increase its FedEx Ground unit’s shipping rates by an average of 4.9%, starting in January.

Ryder System said Friday it will combine its U.S. and International Supply Chain Solutions business units to form a single integrated organization to serve SCS customers globally.