Government

Surface trade among the United States, Canada and Mexico rose 5.5% in September from a year earlier, the Transportation Department said Thursday.

The California Supreme Court rejected a bid by FedEx Corp. to reverse a verdict making its independent contractor drivers full-time employees, Bloomberg reported.

The U.S. economy expanded at a 4.9 % annual growth rate in the third quarter — the most in four years and 1% more than originally reported, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

The trucking industry, supported by the federal government, is warning that a Maine law on tobacco sales could lead to conflicting state regulations that Congress meant to pre-empt when it deregulated motor transportation, the New York Times reported Thursday.

Independent logging truckers from Maine may drive their rigs to Washington to protest high diesel fuel prices, the Bangor (Maine) Daily News reported Thursday.

Overall economic activity expanded from October into mid-November, but the pace of growth slowed since a previous period, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) can keep private a report studying how the state can increase tolls on some of the nation’s busiest highways, a state judge ruled, the Associated Press reported.

Truck and engine maker Navistar International Corp. trimmed its fiscal year 2008 industry forecast for commercial truck and school bus sales in North America, Reuters reported.

Durable goods orders fell 0.4% in October, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.