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Trucking company failures in the second quarter fell to their lowest level since the end of 1999, as the economy was in recovery from last year's recession, a new study shows.

Diesel engine manufacturer Cummins Inc. joined most other engine makers in announcing layoffs, but executives at heavy-duty truck plants said they expected to keep assembling trucks over the next eight weeks with engines built before the Oct. 1 deadline for lower-emission models.

The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its September consumer confidence index hit a 10-month low, falling to 93.3 from a revised reading of 94.5 in August.

The chairman and chief executive officer of less-than-truckload giant Roadway Corp. said Tuesday that through the end of the company’s fiscal third quarter on Sept. 7, he had “not seen any noticeable uptick” in the economy.

TL Carrier Smithway Gets De-Listing Notice • Crude Oil Jumps to $31.30 on NYMEX • CF Failure Could Boost Roadway Sales by 30% • Maintenance Council Heads to Mexico • And more...

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor. We've been here before, and it doesn't feel much better this time around, but the latest economic indicators were at best a mixed bag for a trucking industry needing freight.

In an announcement Tuesday, the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee left its target federal funds rate at 1.75%, maintaining that demand is still growing at a moderate pace..

The Conference Board said its index of leading economic indicators fell by 0.2% in August, marking the third straight monthly drop.

Sales of heavy-duty trucks jumped 23.1% in August from a year earlier, as fleets continued to buy up trucks with current-model engines before new federally mandated emissions standards take effect Oct. 1.

Technology companies tried to convince a House subcommittee to fund projects they said would allow more traffic to use existing highways, but several members of Congress at a recent hearing said they were skeptical.