Business

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted truck tonnage index jumped 3.9% in December, following a 3.6% downturn in November.

Diesel engine and heavy-equipment manufacturer Caterpillar Inc. its fourth-quarter profit rose 4% to a record $882 million or $1.32 a share, up from $846 million or $1.20 a share a year earlier.

Refrigerated truckload carrier Marten Transport’s fourth-quarter income fell 27% to $5.2 million or 24 cents a share, from $7.1 million or 32 cents a year earlier.

State police said wreckage from a 50-vehicle chain-reaction crash was cleared and a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 90 east of Erie, Pa., was reopened shortly after 3 a.m. local time following a big snowstorm, the Associated Press reported.

Covenant Transport late Thursday reported a fourth-quarter loss of $894,000 or 6 cents a share, compared with a profit of $4 million or 28 cents a year earlier.

Truckload carrier Heartland Express said its fourth-quarter profit fell to $19.6 million or 20 cents a share, from $21.6 million or 22 cents a year earlier.

Truckload carrier Schneider National said Thursday it had $3.7 billion in revenue last year, up from $3.4 billion in 2005.

Truckload carrier Swift Transportation Co. said late Wednesday its fourth-quarter profit fell from a year earlier due to a “soft freight environment.”

Existing home sales fell 0.8% in December and purchases for the year fell by the most since 1989, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

Truckload carrier USA Truck on Thursday reported its fourth-quarter profit plunged to $1.2 million or 11 cents a share, from $4.3 million or 37 cents a year earlier, on lower tonnage and demand.