Consumer confidence fell to a seven-month low in April as Americans’ expectations about economic growth dropped to the lowest point since September 2014.

Consumer confidence retreated more than forecast in April as Americans’ optimism about the outlook for the economy and employment waned.

Norfolk Southern Corp. reported the best year-over-year improvement in first-quarter rail industry earnings, boosting net income 25% to $387 million, or $1.29 per share, helped by expense reductions and improved results for commodity groups, particularly automotive shipments.

Union Pacific Corp. reported first-quarter earnings higher than analysts’ expectations as the railroad cut costs and boosted prices to mitigate a steep drop in cargo demand, pushing shares to their highest value in five months.

U.S. net orders of trailers hit 13,800 in March, down 39% year-over-year as all but dump trailers showed weakness, while backlogs remained solid, research firm FTR said.

Hapag-Lloyd is in talks with United Arab Shipping Co. on a possible combination of their container businesses, potentially setting up the German company’s second merger in two years as the maritime-freight industry grapples with a drop in prices.

BEIJING — China will encourage ships flying its flag to take the Northwest Passage via the Arctic Ocean, a route opened up by global warming, to cut travel times between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, a state-run newspaper reported April 20.

The state and the railroad CSX Transportation have agreed to a plan to remove a bottleneck for freight shipping beneath the streets of Baltimore and have requested $155 million in federal funding to help pay for the project they say will boost Maryland's economy.

CSX Corp. kicked off the first-quarter earnings reporting season on a down note as net income fell 19% to $356 million, or 37 cents per share, and revenue dipped 14% to $2.62 billion, including a drop of 37% in coal traffic.