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FedEx Corp. and UPS Inc. again have access to their European hub airports after spending nearly a week of enduring flight cancellations and seeking ground-based transportation alternatives after a volcano in Iceland began spewing hot ash into the skies over the continent, closing airports and stilling the movement of air freight.

New orders for Class 8 trucks in March rose 28% from a year earlier, the second month in a row they have climbed, as buyers put requests for 11,285 new vehicles on the books, according to ACT Research Co. 

The average price of retail diesel in the United States rose a half-cent last week to $3.074 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported, slowing a two-month run-up that has sent diesel over $3 for the first time since November 2008.

Daimler Trucks North America won a new series of three-year labor contracts covering three North Carolina truck plants making heavy- and medium-duty Freightliners and parts for the trucks.

Navistar International Corp. has withdrawn a lawsuit that it had filed against the California Air Resources Board, following an agreement with CARB that addressed the engine-related issues that prompted its original court action.

New home sales grew in March by the most since April 1963, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Durable goods orders fell in March while orders excluding transportation equipment rose, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Existing home sales rose in March for the first time in four months, the National Association of Realtors said.