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Durable goods orders rose 0.7% in November, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

Personal spending increased 0.4% in November, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Funding for roads and bridges continued to be the overriding issue for states in 2012 as transportation officials sought new ways to raise revenue.

In 2012, the Obama administration’s Mexican cross-border three-year pilot project got into full swing, but a federal court challenge and a lack of widespread interest among Mexican motor carriers continued to threaten the program’s success.

Highway speed reduction, driver training, progressive shifting and fuel-operated heaters received the highest marks for return on investment in a recent fleet survey evaluating initiatives in the SmartWay program.

Intermodal business continued to grow in 2012, powered by the combination of truckload freight migrating to rail long hauls, expanded Eastern truck/rail options and continued reliability improvements, industry experts said.

For labor and management, 2012 was short on contracts and long on rhetoric. During the year, the only agreement that affected trucking was between a division of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and Southern California waterfront employers.

Ron Medford, a top highway safety regulator in the federal government, has been hired by Google Inc. to help it develop self-driving cars.

Existing home sales rose 5.9% in November to a three-year high, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

Manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region expanded in November, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said Thursday.