Government

President Bush defended the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to reject California’s plan to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, saying that a national strategy toward climate change is more effective than a state-by-state approach, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Manufacturing levels in the Philadelphia region contracted this month, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said.

An index of leading economic indicators fell 0.4% last month, the New York-based Conference Board said Thursday.

Ryder System said Wednesday it will buy the truck leasing business of Lily Transportation Corp., a Northeast regional transportation services company based in Needham, Mass.

The U.S. economy expanded at a 4.9 % annual growth rate in the third quarter, the most in four years, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

Bill Pugh, executive director and general counsel of the National Motor Freight Traffic Association, resigned the post he has held for the past six years, NMFTA said.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will publish its final rule on electronic onboard recorders during 2008, Administrator John Hill said.

Kudos to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for reaffirming its new hours-of-service rules for commercial drivers and removing much of the uncertainty that has hung over these rules since the recent court action vacating portions of it.

The Department of Transportation said Tuesday it is asking private industry, research organizations, and state and local governments for commercially available technology to fight congestion and improve the safety within the U.S. transportation system.