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American Trucking Associations’ board of directors decided to meet the problem of improving truck productivity head-on during its Winter Leadership Meeting in Tampa last week, agreeing to seek legislative changes that would allow trucks to haul bigger and longer loads.

Durable goods orders dove 10.2% in January from the previous month for the biggest drop in six years, led by a decline in commercial aircraft, the Commerce Department said Friday.

The United Arab Emirates company seeking to take over management of six U.S. ports offered late Thursday to delay part of its $6.8 billion deal as the Bush administration said it would agree to a delay for the deal, which is facing intense political opposition, the Washington Post reported Friday.

Crude oil and gasoline supplies rose last week but distillates, which include diesel, declined, the Energy Department said Thursday.

Hurt by winter storms, rail freight traffic fell last week compared with the same week last year, though intermodal rose, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday.

Replacing a common gasoline additive with ethanol could lead to some shortages and price increases this year, particularly in Texas and on the East Coast, according a Department of Energy report issued Wednesday.

Continental Tire North America’s European parent company said Thursday its sales rose 9.8% last year to $17.22 billion, though its heavy-truck tires sales declined.

Neighborhood business groups in New York City have asked Mayor Michael Bloomberg to do more to relieve congestion on city streets, the New York Times reported Thursday.

U.S. Class 8 trucks sales increased 5.3% in January from year-ago levels, to 19,229 vehicles, the smallest monthly gain since November 2003 and the first time in the past 11 months the total did not break 20,000, according to data from Ward’s Communications.

The number of workers filing initial unemployment claims fell by 20,000 last week to 278,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.