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A congressional panel will hold a hearing Thursday on ways to better gauge health of truck drivers, in an effort to reduce accidents, the Associated Press reported Monday.

More U.S. companies plan to raise boost prices and limit hiring as a continuing surge in raw-material costs crimps profits, according to a new business survey, Bloomberg reported Monday.

It has been a year of retrenchment for most, but not all, of the largest for-hire carriers in the United States and Canada, as fleets scramble to cope with record fuel prices and weak freight demand.

Heavy-duty U.S. retail truck sales grew by 9.5% in June, compared with year-ago levels, and ended a streak of 17 consecutive months of contraction, according to the latest survey by WardsAuto.com.

Behind this year’s surge in trucking company failures, brought on largely by the double-whammy of slow freight and skyrocketing fuel prices, is another ominous trend: a sharp increase in the number of motor carriers asking larger competitors to buy them out.

The U.S. retail diesel average rose 3.7 cents last week to another record, $4.764 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported, while the price of crude oil posted its largest single-day drop in 17 years on July 15.

Moving company Sirva Inc. said it has appointed Wes Lucas its new chief executive officer, succeeding Robert Tieken, who the company said led it through its successful financial reorganization.

Diesel engine maker Cummins Inc. said Friday it concluded joint ventures with two companies and that it will purchase a stake in a North Carolina engine company, which will become a Cummins unit.