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December truck tonnage increased by 1.4% from year-ago levels, the first back-to-back improvement in freight volume since May and June 2006, American Trucking Associations reported in its national index.

Truck buyers for some of the nation’s largest fleets are already contemplating their choices for the January 2010 generation of heavy-duty truck engines. Their challenge is matching the original equipment manufacturers they like with one of the two main technologies upon which the OEMs will rely.

Construction spending fell 1.1% December, the Commerce Department said Friday.

The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index moved into positive territory and showed expansion in January, ISM said Friday.

Events in the year just ended could foreshadow changes in the way trucking is priced. While some developments involved new trucking technology, others have resulted from legal, legislative and regulatory developments.

U.S. consumer confidence rose in January, according to the University of Michigan’s monthly consumer sentiment index released Friday.

The commission in charge of creating congestion-fee plan for New York City voted Thursday to approve a scaled-down version of an original proposal, but the plan would still charge cars and most trucks fees to enter the central part of Manhattan, the Associated Press reported.

New rules for the types of identification that U.S. and Canadian citizens must present to cross into the country took effect Thursday and authorities were optimistic the changes would not cause significant delays, the Associated Press reported.

Consumer personal spending rose at a rate of 0.2% in November, the slowest in six months, the Commerce Department said Thursday.