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The House of Representatives last week approved an $819 billion package of spending and tax cuts aimed at boosting the economy, but with less spending on such projects as roads and bridges than some key legislators wanted.

U.S. retail diesel prices continued to edge down last week, as the average dipped 2.8 cents to $2.268 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported.

The U.S. Senate confirmed several key cabinet posts, including Ray LaHood as secretary of transportation, but the Obama administration has yet to announce the president’s choices to lead several key transportation agencies within DOT.

American Trucking Associations will exhaust all legal avenues to fight employee-only concession requirements contained in the Port of Los Angeles’ clean trucks plan, ATA President Bill Graves said.

After surviving a record run-up in fuel prices during 2008, shippers and carriers now face an even bigger supply chain challenge: coping with a sharp downturn in freight volume as businesses cut back on production in response to lower sales.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has pulled back its formal proposal to require some carriers to use electronic onboard recorders, with indications the Obama administration may want to expand their use.

U.S. consumer confidence improved this month, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan’s final monthly consumer sentiment index released Friday.

Rates for freight services bought on the spot market have nose dived to 1990s levels as shrinking fuel surcharges have sent prices falling further while the recession continues to ravage shipping demand.

December truck tonnage plummeted 14.1% from year-earlier levels and 11.1% from November, the worst freight performance in more than a decade.

Oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. Friday reported a 2008 profit of $45.2 billion, breaking its own record for a U.S. company, although its fourth-quarter earnings fell 33% from a year ago, the Associated Press reported.