������ý

A wave of transportation mergers and acquisitions may be on the horizon, as the recession weeds out distressed companies and carriers shop for bargains to help them secure more freight, several industry watchers said.

Active Transportation said it bought majority ownership in Jack Cooper Transport, a move that consolidates two car haulers at a time when auto industry sales are at the lowest level since 1981.

A bill to keep states from tolling existing roads in the National Highway System has been introduced in Congress by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas).

An appeals court has upheld federal rules requiring “direct observation” of drug tests for transportation workers who either have failed or refused to take a test as a condition of employment.

Despite recession-related declines in trade with the United States, Mexico’s potential as an economic power has shippers and fleet executives taking advantage of the emerging market there.

Rising crude oil prices helped drive the average U.S. retail price of diesel fuel up 4.3 cents last week to $2.274 a gallon, while higher demand tied to increased summer driving pushed gasoline up nearly three times as much, the Energy Department reported.

Registrations of all new trucks in the United States totaled 79,800 in the first quarter — a drop of 40% from a year earlier — according to the latest survey by R.L. Polk & Co. The quarter included the worst-ever single month for heavy-duty registrations on record, the company said.

U.S. consumer confidence has improved to the highest level since September, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan monthly consumer sentiment index released Friday.

The U.S. economy contracted at an annual rate of 5.7% in the first quarter, a slight improvement from the 6.1% downturn reported last month, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Truck and engine manufacturer Navistar Inc. has challenged the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to certify heavy-duty diesel engines using selective catalytic reduction to meet the agency’s 2010 standards for emissions of nitrogen oxides.