Business

Crude oil futures hit a 19-month low price, closing at $54.02 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday following a Department of Energy report showing strong heating-oil inventories, Bloomberg reported.

The American Transportation Research Institute issued a final call Tuesday for motor carrier safety data to measure the effects of the federal hours-of-service rule’s split sleeper-berth provisions.

Less-than-truckload carrier YRC Regional Transportation said late Monday that its USF Bestway and USF Reddaway units will consolidate into one organization under the USF Reddaway brand.

The average retail price of diesel fuel dropped 4.3 cents to $2.537 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported Monday.

Wachovia Capital Markets upgraded the U.S. trucking sector to “market weight” from “underweight,” citing opportunities for investors to be more constructive ahead of the next upturn, Reuters reported.

Several people who obtained commercial driver’s licenses from a southern Missouri trucking school gave false home addresses, and state officials acknowledge they currently have no way to stop the practice, the Associated Press reported.

UPS Inc. late Monday said it promoted David Abney to chief operating officer and Alan Gershenhorn to replace Abney as president of UPS International.

Freightliner LLC said it that its Detroit Diesel Corp. unit has begun production of 2007-year heavy-duty Series 60 engine that meets required Environmental Protection Agency standards.

Delaware may consider leasing its toll roads to pay for road projects, in a move similar to other states, the Delaware News Journal newspaper reported Sunday.

U.S. freight railroads completed a record-breaking year in 2006, moving record numbers of carloads and intermodal containers, the Association of American Railroads said.