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Consumer confidence climbed this month to its highest level in eight months, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index released Friday.

Meritor WABCO said truckload carrier Schneider National has ordered more than 2,500 units of its OnGuard Collision Safety System as standard equipment for new Class 8 trucks it plans to purchase this year.

The U.S. trade deficit expanded by 10.4% in November as exports declined to a four-month low, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Retail diesel prices ended six weeks of declines by rising last week for the first time since late November, the Department of Energy reported, as fleet managers said they were bracing for the possible return of $4-a-gallon fuel.

For-hire carriers added 5,100 new jobs last month, making December the fourth consecutive month in which trucking industry job growth has been positive after slumping late in the summer.

Truck makers and parts suppliers, along with freight carriers and logistics firms, face a shortage of professional and technical talent, transportation industry recruiting specialists said.

WASHINGTON — U.S. interstate highways are in need of rebuilding and repair, but the use of tolls as a funding source is less efficient than raising the federal fuel tax, said Bill Graves, president of American Trucking Associations.

Most carriers once again im-proved earnings during the fourth quarter, riding a wave of rate increases and modest but steady freight growth, two trends that are expected to continue in 2012.

Orders for new Class 8 trucks jumped 68.6% last year from 2010, as the year closed with an 11.8% increase in December from a year earlier, according to ACT Research Co.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — With its Class 8 truck order book overflowing and all signs pointing to a continuing market recovery, Daimler Trucks North America said it will add a second shift to its primary U.S. production facility, creating 1,200 new jobs.