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Construction spending fell for a second straight month in April, the Commerce Department said Monday.

Truckload carrier U.S. Xpress Enterprises said its Xpress Global Systems subsidiary finalized its purchase of Pinner Transportation. Terms were not released.

Executives with several software firms said their businesses are awash with inquiries from carriers seeking to streamline operations as they struggle with record fuel prices and sluggish freight demand.

Iteris Inc., which makes lane-departure warning systems for the trucking industry, reported its fiscal fourth-quarter profit improved from a year ago.

South Korea said it was delaying the planned resumption of U.S. beef imports, following weekend protests in that country, the Associated Press reported Monday.

U.S. diesel prices roared past gasoline in September, reversing the historic pattern because rising demand for diesel, coupled with the weak dollar, has led refiners to export the fuel even as their use of refinery capacity is at a four-year low, according to market experts.

NEW YORK — U.S. freight carriers are reaping benefits from the weaker dollar as export shipments climb within North America and overseas.

U.S. truck tonnage rose 2% in April from a year ago, the sixth straight increase in monthly volumes, according to a preliminary report from American Trucking Associations.

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.

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