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The average price of U.S. retail diesel shed another 19.4 cents last week, dropping to $3.288 a gallon, while the gasoline average fell below year-ago levels for the first time in 2008, according to the Department of Energy.

Despite passage of a $700 billion aid package intended to shore up depleted capital of large and small institutions, the near-collapse of U.S. financial markets is making it tougher for carriers to buy or lease equipment, and will force a reduction in the use of debt to pay for mergers and acquisitions.

Growth in U.S. truck tonnage slowed significantly in September as the national economy contracted during the third quarter, and a major freight-matching service said last week the spot market for truckload service fell well below year-ago levels as the fourth quarter got under way.

The pace of trucking bankruptcies slowed during the third quarter — to 785 from 935 in the second quarter — but rather than signaling a turn, the decline was, as one analyst put it, “only a lull in the storm.”

Heavy-duty truck parts maker ArvinMeritor Inc. said Friday it will cut 1,250 jobs and may sell the auto-components unit it had planned to spin off to shareholders.

Initial jobless claims were unchanged last week from the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers said it earned $11.9 million, or 11 cents per share, in the third quarter, down from $14.9 million, or 14 cents, a year ago.

Wright Express Corp. earned $72.3 million, or $1.82 a share, in the third quarter, up from $22.3 million, or 55 cents, the previous year.

Exxon Mobil Corp. broke its own record for the largest quarterly profit by a U.S. company Thursday, reporting its third-quarter net income jumped 58% to $14.8 billion, or $2.86 per share, up from $9.41 billion, or $1.70, a year earlier.