���ϳԹ���

HOUSTON — During the second half of 2007, when the U.S. economy and stock market were at their respective peaks, a colleague of James Crane said he was — for a brief while — bitter and unhappy. But as gross domestic product and the value of stocks, housing and other assets fell dramatically, the smile returned to Crane’s face as he realized the comfort of cash — hundreds of millions of dollars of it.

The average cost of retail diesel in the United States dropped 5.2 cents a gallon last week to $2.542, the third consecutive decline and a level nearly 50% below the record highs of a year ago.

Any trucking company that takes the leadership position in safety and in clean air is to be commended. But doing so through high-tech safety and Environmental Protection Agency ventures makes the outcome risky.

Now that we’ve had a week to digest the Transport Topics 100 ranking of the largest for-hire carriers in the United States and Canada, it’s clear that our coverage focused as much on the coming silver lining as on the bleak economic reality of 2008 and the first half of 2009.

Manufacturing levels in the Philadelphia region slowed this month, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said Thursday.

Manufacturing activity in the New York region contracted at the slowest pace in more than a year, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Wednesday.

The consumer price index gained 0.7% in June, the biggest jump since July 2008, the Labor Department said Wednesday.

Get a group of truckers together anywhere in this country, and Minnesota’s “Fatigued Driving Evaluation Checklist” is bound to come up. The 75-item list gained national prominence when the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association sued the Minnesota State Patrol in federal court in an attempt to stop its use.

Third-party logistics firm Carter Logistics said it has opened a new cross-dock facility in Romulus, Mich.