Business

A heavy snowstorm that has closed highways in five states continued to move across the Southwest and Great Plains on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.

Housing starts jumped 9.3% in November to their highest level in more than a year and a half, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

Volvo Trucks and Mack Trucks named new presidents of their respective North American sales and marketing divisions, effective Jan. 1.

Trucking equities joined the rest of the stock market in going through sharp volatility this year — improving, crashing and then clawing their way back — so that as 2011 drew to a close, six key indexes had moved less than 8% up or down over the course of 12 months.

For truckers, 2011 was a year full of expectations. Some of them were fulfilled, but many were not. The economy continued to grow, but slowly, and not enough to put a serious dent in unemployment. However, there was enough growth to put trucks back on the road and allow carriers to raise freight rates.

With membership up, the grip of recession loosening and a healthier if leaner budget, American Trucking Associations ends 2011 reflective of the carriers that make up its ranks, ATA President Bill Graves said.

A protracted battle about international trade negotiations appears to have ended in 2011, and for the second time in recent years, the United States agreed to grant Mexican motor carriers the right to operate beyond the 25-mile border zone.

Truck/rail freight’s steady growth trajectory continued in 2011, buoyed by domestic intermodal service that apparently continued to attract more over-the-road freight as truck capacity tightened.