Business

The continuing drought in freight withered third-quarter earnings results for truckload carriers, with all 13 of the companies that reported through Nov. 20 showing lower levels of profitability than a year ago.

Trucking bankruptcies rose 11.5% in October from the previous month as carriers struggled with weak freight demand and sharply rising costs for fuel and other operating expenses, according to data from investment bank Credit Suisse in New York.

Mark Zaluski was one of the lucky ones. At 3:10 p.m. on Oct. 25, his rig occupied one of only 16 truck parking spaces on the north side of a travel plaza off Interstate 94 about 40 miles north of Chicago.

The average price of retail diesel fell 1.5 cents last week to $3.41 a gallon, ending a string of five straight increases that had pushed the fuel to record levels, the Department of Energy reported.

The index of leading economic indicators fell in October, the New York-based Conference Board said Wednesday.

Initial jobless claims fell by 11,000 last week to 330,000, the Labor Department said Wednesday.

Performance Transportation Services, a Wayne, Mich., auto transporter, said it, along with certain subsidiaries, will file for chapter 11 bankruptcy as part of a $67 million deal to sell nearly all of its assets to Allied Systems Holdings.

Federal Reserve officials lowered their growth forecast and said that they remain concerned about the credit market during their Oct. 30-31 meeting, Bloomberg News reported.

McLeod Software said it added a new program to allow customers to manage assets from any computer.