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Existing home sales fell to a four-year low and consumer confidence declined to an eight-month low, two groups reported Tuesday.

The Jacksonville Port Authority said it recorded its busiest cargo-handling year in 2006 — its sixth consecutive year of cargo growth — with a 3% increase over 2005.

DaimlerChrysler AG expects U.S. sales of heavy-duty trucks to recover to last year’s level by 2009 after falling more than 40% this year, Bloomberg reported.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach said they would ban the oldest drayage trucks from doing business at their terminals.

Profits fell at five of the largest truckload carriers in the past quarter as the nation’s soft economy cut freight volumes, raising uncertainty about whether conditions would improve enough to boost results later in the year.