Business

As noted on other pages of this week’s edition of Transport Topics, American Trucking Associations will be conducting the first comprehensive summit on the use of natural gas in trucking.

Truck tonnage continued to grow last month, rising 4.1% from a year earlier despite mounting caution about the U.S. economy’s strength,

Two of the nation’s largest trucking companies have joined forces, as Arkansas Best Corp. paid $180 million to acquire Panther Expedited Services in the largest acquisition in North American trucking so far this year.

American Trucking Associations said it will host a first-ever national summit on the growing use of natural gas as a fuel for moving freight across the country.

Demand for used heavy-duty trucks remained strong in May, but sales declined due to continued tight inventories of lower-mileage units, ACT Research reported.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Mack Trucks Inc. is likely to use technologies such as speed limiters and idling-reduction devices on its tractors to help its full family of vehicles comply with federal greenhouse-gas regulations set to take effect in 2014, a company official said.

FedEx Corp. said its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, excluding a charge for aircraft retirements, rose to $634 million, helped by a 93% increase in operating income at the FedEx Freight segment.

Navistar International Corp.’s board of directors last week moved to block a potential hostile takeover, as the truck maker tries to restore profitability and awaits Environmental Protection Agency approval for its new 13-liter engine.

FedEx Corp. said its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, excluding a charge for aircraft retirements, rose to $634 million, helped by a 93% increase in operating income at the FedEx Freight segment.

Trucking stocks may not have boomed over the past 12 months, but on average, their improvement has outpaced other transportation equities and the stock market as a whole.