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The House has passed an extension of a federal biodiesel tax incentive through the end of the year.

Diesel continued its downward trend, declining 4.1 cents to $2.98 a gallon, the first time it has been below the $3 mark since March, the Department of Energy reported.

Federal officials have rejected a bid by the Teamsters union to begin a 30-day countdown to a potential strike against UPS Inc. by its aircraft mechanics, the Associated Press reported.

Infrastructure projects boost productivity and economic activity when countries need it most. Canadian governments have been increasingly comfortable executing new investments that merge private enterprise with the public sector.

Surface transportation trade among the United States, Canada and Mexico jumped 37% in March from a year ago, the highest gain on record, the Department of Transportation said.

Florida East Coast Railway said that longtime trucking and transportation executive James Hertwig will become its chief executive officer, effective July 1.

Rush Enterprises said it has completed its previously announced acquisition of Lake City Cos., owner of 11 International Truck dealerships.

U.S. manufacturing activity showed expansion in May for the 10th straight consecutive month but slipped slightly from April, the Institute for Supply Management said Tuesday.

Construction spending rose 2.7% in April, the most since 2000, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

Hybrid engine technology is not yet ready for Class 8 over-the-road trucks, but it is making inroads in other heavy- and medium-duty applications and appears to be performing well, both on the road and in the shop.

Truck tonnage surged 7.5% in April from a year ago, the fifth straight year-to-year increase and the largest gain in more than five years, American Trucking Associations said.

State transportation officials are concerned that shortages of the paint used for road stripes could slow highway construction this summer, CNN reported.

Transport Topics Online will be closed Monday for the Memorial Day holiday. Please check back on Tuesday, June 1, for the latest trucking and freight transportation news.

The motorist group AAA said that travel over the Memorial Day weekend will jump 5.4% from a year ago as an improved economy prompts more Americans to hit the road, Reuters reported.

First-quarter gross domestic product was revised downward to 3% from an originally reported 3.2%, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

Initial jobless claims fell by 14,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Oil rose almost $3 Wednesday to more than $71 a barrel - its biggest single-day gain since September - following several positive economic indicators, Bloomberg reported.

The Federal Highway Administration said it has launched a new tool that tracks traffic chokepoints based on data from trucks.

As a former New York Department of Transportation regulator and a current player in the motor carrier transportation industry, I have followed the concerns voiced by members of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and the Transportation Intermediaries Association, which represents property brokers and other third-party intermediaries.

New home sales rose in April to a two-year high, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.