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American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted truck tonnage index for February fell 1.7% from the same month a year ago, marking the eighth straight year-to-year decline, ATA said late Monday.

Consumer confidence fell in March from a five-year high last month, the New York-based Conference Board said Tuesday.

New home sales fell last month to the lowest level in almost seven years, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

Average U.S. retail gasoline prices rose 5.6 cents in the past two weeks to about $2.61 a gallon, according to the latest Lundberg Survey of filling stations released Sunday.

Ethanol and biodiesel production is expected to surge in the next few years as government officials in Europe and the United States set higher targets for consumption and maintain subsidies for producers, a panel of experts predicted at a forum on biofuel policies and trade organized by the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Paccar Inc., the parent of Kenworth Truck Co., will temporarily shut down production at Kenworth’s Chillicothe, Ohio, plant, the Chillicothe Gazette reported.

The trucking industry is willing to pay higher fuel taxes as long as the money is spent to improve the highway infrastructure, American Trucking Associations President Bill Graves said.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — With sales of heavy trucks expected to drop sharply from last year, OEMs and suppliers at the Mid-America Trucking Show shifted tactics, emphasizing new features and markets in an effort to keep customers interested.

The Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday approved an amendment that would prevent Mexican trucking companies from gaining unrestricted access to U.S. highways until American truckers are afforded the same access in Mexico.