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Ryder System’s fourth-quarter profit rose 12% to $65.8 million or $1.08 cents a share, from $58.8 million or 92 cents a year earlier.

Less-than-truckload carrier YRC Worldwide said late Thursday it earned $46.5 million or 80 cents a share in the fourth quarter, compared with $76.8 million or $1.30 a year earlier.

Factory orders jumped 2.4% in December on higher demand for business equipment, motor vehicles and aircraft, the Commerce Department said Friday.

U.S. consumer confidence rose to a two-year high in January, according to the University of Michigan’s monthly consumer sentiment index released said Friday.

Specialty truck maker Oshkosh Truck Corp.’s fiscal first-quarter profit fell to $41.2 million or 55 cents a share, from $53.1 million or 72 cents a year earlier, the company said Friday.

Patriot Transportation Holding reported net income of $2.2 million or 69 cents a share for its fiscal first quarter, up from $1.9 million or 62 cents a year earlier.

Air cargo shipments fell in December, led by a decline in domestic shipments, but they climbed for the year, the Air Transport Association said Friday.

Big thunderstorms and tornadoes blew through central Florida Friday, killing as many as 19 people and causing accidents on interstates, including one that tossed a tractor-trailer airborne, news reports said.

The Institute for Supply Management’s January manufacturing index showed a contraction, as factories reined in orders to trim inventories, ISM said Thursday.

Truckload carrier Landstar System’s fourth-quarter net income fell to $28.7 million or 50 cents a share, from $41.8 million or 70 cents a year earlier.