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The reinvigorated U.S. construction sector, including home and commercial building, is driving stronger business volumes for flatbed and heavy haul carriers, according to several fleet officials.

U.S. fleets bought 16,905 new heavy-duty trucks in April, a 38.9% jump over the corresponding period of 2011, WardsAuto.com reported.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last week proposed requiring all new heavy-duty vehicles to have electronic stability systems that reduce rollovers and loss of control, which the government said could prevent up to 56% of vehicle rollovers and 14% of loss-of-control crashes.

After carefully weighing the pros and cons in the sometimes overheated debate over whether the federal government should mandate electronic logging devices in heavy-duty trucks, we unequivocally support a requirement for electronic logging to monitor hours-of-service compliance.

Business inventories rose 0.3% in March, the slowest pace in four months, the Commerce Department reported.

U.S. natural gas prices may double from recent 10-year lows by 2015 as more of the fuel is used in transportation, the Financial Times reported May 17, citing an oil company executive.

An index of manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region in May showed contraction for the first time in eight months, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said Thursday.

An index of leading economic indicators fell in April following six straight increases, the New York-based Conference Board said Thursday.

Initial jobless claims were unchanged last week, holding at 370,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.