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LAS VEGAS — Terry Dotson never set out to be a truck salesman, but he was so good on the lot selling big rigs that he rose eventually to be chairman and CEO of Worldwide Equipment Enterprises Inc.

Both houses of Congress were scheduled to vote this week on separate transportation reauthorization bills that would provide highway spending of more than $41 billion annually.

American Trucking Associations installed a batch of 15 rooftop deck pavers at its Capitol Hill office last month, the latest of 46 pavers to be placed at the Washington, D.C., building, the group announced last week.

Truck-rail intermodal freight increased 4.9% in 2011 from the previous year, led by a strong gain in domestic shipments and putting last year’s volume in a virtual tie for the second-best annual volume ever, the Intermodal Association of North America reported.

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are expected to vote as early as next week on their long-awaited transportation reauthorization bills.

The U.S. trade deficit expanded by 3.7% in December as imports climbed to the highest level in more than three years, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Consumer confidence declined this month, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index released Friday.

UPS Inc. said late Thursday that its board of directors has raised the company’s quarterly dividend to 57 cents a share, from 52 cents.