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The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Tuesday its manufacturing index rose to 19.6 in March from 19.2 in February.

Despite big investments in security, the U.S. aviation system is vulnerable to terrorist attacks, the New York Times reported Monday.

The House of Representatives approved changes to the federal hours-of-service rules for truck drivers and eliminated some legal liability for truck and car rental companies as part of a series of amendments passed during the first day of its debate on the multiyear highway bill.

LAS VEGAS — Several information technology companies that provide software, tracking and communications systems to the trucking industry said their sales and orders increased sharply last year and were headed even higher in 2005.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. and Union Pacific Corp., the two biggest U.S. railroads, may beat analysts' first-quarter earnings forecasts after shipments of consumer goods and coal surged in February, analysts told Bloomberg News.

Officials at J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. told the Associated Press the United States needs more intermodal terminals.

Heating-oil futures fell Monday in intraday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange after Saudi Arabia signaled it may call for higher OPEC production at Wednesday’s meeting of the cartel’s ministers, Bloomberg reported.

Consumer confidence rose by the largest amount in seven months in early March, the Associated Press reported Friday.

By Lance Craig

The U.S. trade deficit grew 4.5% in January to the second-highest monthly level ever, the Commerce Department said Friday.