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A good rule of thumb is that you cannot appreciate truck drivers too much. But we’re convinced that expression of admiration for what America’s 3.5 million professional drivers accomplish on a daily basis carries a certain value.

The Transportation Security Administration for the first time has used a mobile X-ray machine capable of screening contents of large cargo containers to check trucks entering Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, the Associated Press reported.

Oil prices rose more than $2 to top $119 a barrel Wednesday following a report that inventories declined last week, Bloomberg reported.

Durable goods orders rose 1.3% in July, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

The transportation industry is in a dangerous place, one where even well-known industry players such as Jevic Transportation, which closed its doors in May, and Jim Palmer Trucking, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July, can go under — taking their employees with them.

New home sales rose in July from a 17-year low the previous month, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

Consumer confidence rose in August, as fuel prices fell as gasoline prices fell, the New York-based Conference Board said Tuesday.

Oil prices rose early Tuesday on concerns that newly formed Hurricane Gustav may be on track to move into the Gulf of Mexico, the Associated Press reported.

Freightliner Trucks, part of Daimler Trucks North America, said it will offer Meritor WABCO’s new automatic forward-collision warning and braking system on its models Cascadia and Century Class S/T tractors.