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U.S. consumer confidence dropped in February from a two-year high, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan monthly consumer sentiment index released Friday.

Retail sales climbed 0.5% in January, the third increase in four months, the Commerce Department said Friday.

UPS Inc. said it plans to furlough at least 300 of its pilots if talks with the union fail to produce steps that will lower costs.

The mid-Atlantic region is the latest area to be reminded of Mother Nature’s capriciousness and unrelenting fury, as a seemingly endless string of major snowstorms has dumped record amounts from Virginia to New Jersey.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has published a proposed rule that would toughen its workplace drug-testing program for truck drivers and other transportation workers, including testing for the drugs “ecstasy” and heroin.

Diesel prices largely held steady last week, with the national average price per gallon at $2.835, falling just 1.7 cents from the previous week, according to AAA’s daily price report for Feb. 11.

TAMPA, Fla. — A major truck-making executive and the chairman of American Trucking Associations offered differing views on the future of trucking, but both agreed that federal regulation of business is generating unwelcome distortions of how firms can operate.

YRC Worldwide Inc.’s loss from operations narrowed in the fourth quarter to $95 million from $135 million a year earlier as Chief Executive Officer William Zollars said the less-than-truckload company would continue the improving trend this year.

The long-depressed less-than-truckload market has stabilized and is showing initial signs of modest growth, LTL carriers said in fourth-quarter earnings statements.