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A rule published Thursday by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration expands the distance that drivers hauling agricultural products, livestock, machinery or supplies to or from farms can travel under the hours-of-service exemption for the agriculture industry.

Consumer confidence fell in March, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index released Friday.

The consumer price index rose for the first time in four months, the Labor Department said Friday.

The Senate restored the transportation funding that was cut last week by the House in the House’s proposed continuing resolution to fund the federal government through September.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has begun distributing cards to truck drivers warning them that using GPS navigation devices meant for smaller vehicles can be dangerous and could lead to trucks hitting low bridges.

The Maryland Motor Truck Association will oppose a transportation funding plan put forth by Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) that includes a new sales tax on motor fuel and a 5-cent reduction in the gasoline tax but not in the diesel tax.

Law enforcement officers have recently observed several commercial drivers and vehicles with fraudulent licenses and license plates that purport to be issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation or the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

LAS VEGAS — Lawyer-turned-trucker Tom Kretsinger, the new chairman of the Truckload Carriers Association, last week staked out an ambitious goal: Prepare the industry for new federal health care, disability and discrimination standards that are complex and sometimes contradictory.

The U.S. economy started the year “expanding at a modest to moderate pace,” and transportation and trucking activity were mixed as tonnage increased, the Federal Reserve said.