Business

Evidence is accumulating that freight volumes are falling significantly and that the traditional fourth-quarter peak was all but nonexistent, although analysts and fleet executives remain unsure of what will happen in the first half of the new year.

Crude oil closed at below $52 a barrel Thursday for the first time in 19 months after a report showed that U.S. fuel consumption plunged to the lowest since April 2004, Bloomberg reported.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration proposed a rule Thursday to mandate the use of electronic onboard recorders for habitual violators of federal hours-of-service rules.

Intermodal and logistics firm RoadLink USA said Thursday that it has acquired Transus Intermodal, an intermodal trucking services company.

First-time U.S. jobless claims fell by 26,000 last week to 299,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Trucking component maker ArvinMeritor and Wal-Mart Transportation have agreed to develop a dual-mode, diesel-electric drivetrain for a Class 8 tractor, the two said.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) plans to ask state regulators to require the state’s petroleum refiners and gasoline sellers to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 10%, the New York Times reported Wednesday.

Trucking, couriers and messengers, and warehousing and storage revenue reached $292 billion in 2005, up from $266 billion the year before, the U.S. Census Bureau reported.

Paccar Inc., the parent company of Kenworth Truck Co. and Peterbilt Motors Co., said late Tuesday it plans to build a new $400 million powertrain manufacturing plant in the southeastern United States.

Wholesale inventories jumped 1.3% in November as sales rebounded from two consecutive declines, rising 1%, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.