BELSPRING, Va. — Inside Norfolk Southern Railway’s Cowan Tunnel at the foot of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, the latest intermodal ad-vancement is moving forward — 4 feet at a time.

Canadian transportation firm Mullen Group Income Fund said Thursday it would buy the transport unit of Essential Energy Services Trust for C$135 million.

Logistics and delivery firm Dynamex Inc. said its fiscal third-quarter profit was $3.8 million, or 37 cents a share, up from $3.5 million, or 33 cents, a year earlier.

Just days after a new report recommended improvements to drug-testing programs that could better identify illegal drug users and keep them off the road, Reps. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.), John Mica (R-Fla.) and Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) announced their intention to introduce legislation aimed at establishing a national clearinghouse of positive drug-test results.

The Ontario Trucking Association said that a joint meeting this week of the Ontario and Quebec government cabinets moved them closer to accord on trucking issues such as implementing speed limiter legislation and allowing for longer combination vehicles.

Diesel continued to soar last week, jumping 22.6 cents to put the national average retail price at an unprecedented $4.723 a gallon, according to the Department of Energy.

Manufacturing activity in the Chicago region improved in May but showed contraction showed for a fourth straight month, the National Association of Purchasing Management said Friday.

Existing homes sales fell 1% in April, the National Association of Realtors said Friday.