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Economic activity continued to expand early this year, though trucking’s outlook was mixed, according to a report issued Wednesday by the nation’s 12 Federal Reserve districts.

Crude oil inventories rose last week but gasoline and distillate inventories fell, the Department of Energy said Wednesday.

Interpool Inc. said Wednesday its container subsidiary has entered into an agreement to sell the majority of its cargo containers to a Swiss investor group for $515 million.

Deutsche Post AG, parent of the DHL express-delivery service in North America, said Tuesday its fourth-quarter profit rose 25% but warned its operating profit likely would be flat this year, news services reported.

Tank truck carrier Quality Distribution said late Monday it earned $6.2 million or 32 cents in the fourth quarter, compared with a loss of $6.4 million or 35 cents a share in the previous fourth quarter.

Business inventories rose 0.4% in January, and business sales rose by 1.3%, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

February retail sales fell 1.3%, the first drop in six months, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

Oversized and overweight coal trucks could receive special permission to travel up to half a mile on public roads under a bill being considered by the West Virginia House of Delegates, the Charleston (W. Va.) Gazette reported.

American Trucking Associations Tuesday filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of the Oregon Supreme Court’s rejection of ATA’s challenge to Oregon’s weight-distance tax system.

Surface trade among the United States, Canada and Mexico was 10.2% higher in 2005 than 2004, the Department of Transportation said Tuesday.