���ϳԹ���

A wave of transportation mergers and acquisitions may be on the horizon, as the recession weeds out distressed companies and carriers shop for bargains to help them secure more freight, several industry watchers said.

Before Congress recessed for its Memorial Day break, the House of Representatives passed legislation that could make it easier for employees of FedEx Corp.’s express unit to unionize, and the House energy committee approved a bill that would set up a cap-and-trade program to limit output of greenhouse gases.

Active Transportation said it bought majority ownership in Jack Cooper Transport, a move that consolidates two car haulers at a time when auto industry sales are at the lowest level since 1981.

Registrations of all new trucks in the United States totaled 79,800 in the first quarter — a drop of 40% from a year earlier — according to the latest survey by R.L. Polk & Co. The quarter included the worst-ever single month for heavy-duty registrations on record, the company said.

An appeals court has upheld federal rules requiring “direct observation” of drug tests for transportation workers who either have failed or refused to take a test as a condition of employment.

Rising crude oil prices helped drive the average U.S. retail price of diesel fuel up 4.3 cents last week to $2.274 a gallon, while higher demand tied to increased summer driving pushed gasoline up nearly three times as much, the Energy Department reported.

Truck and engine manufacturer Navistar Inc. has challenged the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to certify heavy-duty diesel engines using selective catalytic reduction to meet the agency’s 2010 standards for emissions of nitrogen oxides.

The U.S. economy contracted at an annual rate of 5.7% in the first quarter, a slight improvement from the 6.1% downturn reported last month, the Commerce Department said Friday.

U.S. consumer confidence has improved to the highest level since September, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan monthly consumer sentiment index released Friday.

Manufacturing activity in the Chicago declined in April, showing contraction for a seventh straight month, the Institute for Supply Chain Management-Chicago said Friday.