Government

Retail sales improved 0.1% in June, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

Prices paid to U.S. producers jumped 1.8% in June, led by surging fuel costs, the Labor Department said Tuesday.

Despite fuel prices zooming toward the outer edge of our galaxy, ours is a nation of crowded highways and busy people who don’t like trucks getting in their way.

Less-than-truckload carrier YRC Worldwide said it named Phil Gaines president of its Yellow Transportation unit, and Ken Bowman senior vice president of finance.

YRC Worldwide will begin testing hybrid trucks this year as part of a corporate commitment to sustainability and said it will save as much as $40 million annually by streamlining its service network to speed up transit times.

Thousands of used trailers are sitting unsold and gathering dust, as freight demand remains tepid and carriers that would typically up-grade their fleets are postponing purchases, spending their money on fuel instead, according to industry experts.

A wave of new insurance companies vying for business from the trucking industry has created an unusual — and welcome — situation: Rates are dropping.

WASHINGTON — Representatives of trucking and shippers urged Congress to increase truck size and weight limits, but the chairman of the House transportation committee said he opposed longer combination vehicles and had doubts about raising weight limits.

The average retail price of diesel jumped 8.2 cents to $4.727 a gallon last week, more than wiping out the entire 7.8-cent drop in the price of trucking’s main fuel over the previous five weeks, the Department of Energy reported July 7.

American Trucking Associations asked Congress to implement a comprehensive plan to address the soaring price of diesel fuel and ensures an affordable fuel supply for the nation’s 3.5 million truck drivers.