���ϳԹ���

Gasoline’s national average price fell 3.9 cents in the past two weeks to $2.73 a gallon, according to the latest Lundberg Survey of filling stations released Sunday.

While Wall Street and economists are fretting about the staying power of the economic recovery, good news is expected to begin arriving this week in the form of sharply higher second-quarter earnings for publicly traded trucking firms.

As the recession appears to be waning and freight shipments increase, trucking-related firms such as the Allen Lund Cos. say they are seeing a shift in the loads-procurement marketplace, while others — including Con-way’s brokerage unit — are turning to new technological formats to find cargo in need of transportation.

Delaware has become the 30th state to ban drivers from texting or holding cell phones while driving, the Detroit News reported.

While Wall Street continues to express its doubts about the strength of the U.S. economic recovery that is under way, most trucking companies say that business is continuing to improve.

What does every intermodal shipment need that no one wants to really talk about? The answer — and the elephant in the room — is an intermodal chassis.

For-hire trucking companies hired 1,000 workers in June, the third consecutive month the number of industry jobs increased, the Labor Department said July 2.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is 60% of the way to its broad goal of doubling its shipping efficiency by 2015 by streamlining every aspect of the freight movement process, according to its leading sustainability official.

The Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association said 84% of its members experienced sales growth during the second quarter, with 28% reporting “substantial growth.”

The Western Governors’ Association has urged Congress to allow interested states to create pilot programs to evaluate the benefits and costs of adding routes for longer combination vehicles.