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U.S. truckers closed out the year with a surge of heavy-duty truck buying that led to the highest-volume month and highest-volume year since 2006, according to data from WardsAuto.com. Sales boomed 78.3% in December and 59.9% for the year, compared with 2010.

The federal government’s chief truck overseer defended her agency’s controversial changes to the 34-hour restart provisions of the hours-of-service rule and vowed to continue efforts to cut the hours drivers may be behind the wheel.

Existing home sales rose 5% for a third straight increase in December, reaching the highest level since January, the National Association of Realtors said.

AFMS LLC, a parcel shipping consultant, will have to wait until June 2013 for a jury in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to hear its allegations that UPS Inc. and FedEx Corp. conspired to fix prices for package shipments and exclude competitors.

Transplace Inc. said Del Monte Foods has extended its existing logistics contract with the company.

Initial jobless claims plunged 30,000 last week to an almost four-year low, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The consumer price index was unchanged in December as fuel prices declined, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Housing starts dropped 4.1% in December, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

President Obama has denied a permit for the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, but investors, public officials and analysts said the project is likely to move forward on an alternate route, Bloomberg reported Thursday.