Business

U.S. consumer confidence fell last month to a five-month low, according to the University of Michigan’s monthly consumer sentiment index released Friday.

According to the most recent Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration census, there are now 16,930 registered transportation brokers. These numbers have been growing at a rate of 30% over the course of the past three years.

Schneider National Inc., which recently received a license to operate as a domestic carrier in China, is at the leading edge of a growing Asian investment wave by U.S. fleets, joining both truckload and less-than-truckload companies that have partnerships or logistics operations there.

EGL Inc. Chief Executive Officer James Crane’s $1.2 billion buyout bid may undervalue the company by as much as 25%, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

Rail intermodal levels rose last week but overall carload traffic continued a downward trend for the year, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday.

A coalition of seven rail labor unions said late Wednesday it has reached a tentative agreement on a national contract with U.S. freight rail lines.

Just three days after saying it would suspend producing diesel engines for Ford Motor Co., Navistar International Corp. said it would resume production because of a court order from a Michigan judge.

Surface trade among the United States, Canada and Mexico dipped 0.1% in December from the same month a year earlier, though both truck and rail numbers rose, the Department of Transportation said.

The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index for February rose to positive territory from January’s contraction, ISM said Thursday.

U.S. construction spending fell 0.8% January, the Commerce Department said Thursday.