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A Los Angeles man has been sentenced to serve more than four years in federal prison and pay $2.7 million in restitution to 300 trucker and broker victims for his part in an Internet load-board scheme that included hacking into the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Web site.

U.S. consumer confidence fell this month for the second straight month, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan monthly consumer sentiment index released Friday.

Industrial production rose in July for the first time in nine months, the Federal Reserve said Friday.

The consumer price index was unchanged in July, the Labor Department said Friday.

In the face of growing pressure on the federal government to regulate oil markets and trading, the Federal Trade Commission has issued a new rule that could result in fines of up to $1 million if traders or companies are found manipulating fuel markets.

Mobile communication providers said they are keeping a close eye on a proposed federal texting ban to make sure that in-cab computers are not inadvertently outlawed if the measure becomes law.

President Obama last week assured Mexican President Felipe Calderon that the United States remains committed to reaching a cross-border trucking agreement with its southern neighbor.

The federal Cash for Clunkers program has helped sell so many cars that dealer inventories are at historic lows, sparking optimism in the auto-hauling industry for a business rebound, with one firm’s CEO saying he already has received firm orders that were like “giving a pitcher of water to a guy dying of thirst in the desert.”