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CINCINNATI — A strengthening freight market is leading to higher freight rates, and more loads are going unclaimed, attendees at the National Private Truck Council’s annual management conference said. 

The future of the new, publicly owned bridge at Windsor-Detroit rests with the Michigan Legislature. By June 1, we will know whether the Detroit River International Crossing — or the Gordie Howe Bridge as I call it — will be built, or whether it will be shelved and, perhaps never constructed, or at least not in the lifetime of most of us. 

Forward Air Corp. reported a first-quarter profit of $3.4 million, or 12 cents per share, compared with a loss of $3.1 million, or 11 cents, a year ago.

The Senate Agriculture Committee is scheduled to mark up a bill Wednesday that would impose stiffer regulations on the speculative trading of commodities, but would exempt trades from legitimate commercial hedgers like trucking companies.

Backers of a proposed new bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, are pressing Michigan state legislators to act on measures that could move the project into the design and construction phase as early as this year.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration likely will not meet a deadline to issue a more expansive rule requiring fleets to use electronic onboard recorders, according to a new report.

An index of leading economic indicators improved by 1.4% in March by the most in 10 months, the New York-based Conference Board said Monday.

The huge ash cloud hanging over Europe from last week’s volcano eruption in Iceland is hampering global air freight and causing a shift in European cargo from planes to trucks, news services reported.

Several notices pointing toward recovery in trucking and the economy at large are one pleasant side of the news last week.

U.S. consumer confidence held fell this month to its lowest level in five months, according to the latest Reuters/University of Michigan monthly consumer sentiment index released Friday.