Business

Manufacturing activity in the New York region improved in May, but at a slower pace than April, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Monday.

This is in regard to your April 18 issue, which includes an article about the Transportation Intermediaries Association, American Trucking Associations and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association all supporting a broker surety bill.

The news from the Obama White House that it has no intention of pursuing a new tax regime based on the number of miles vehicles travel is most welcome for the trucking industry.

Billy Cyr, a 19-year veteran executive with Procter & Gamble Co., had 90 days to begin the transformation of a struggling, spun-off subsidiary into the beginnings of a prosperous stand-alone beverage company, so he sought inspiration from a muse.

Heavy-duty U.S. truck sales leaped 41.1% in April, compared with the same month in 2010, marking the 16th straight month of expansion, and outpacing the in-dustry’s 35.9% growth for the first four months of this year.

The Obama administration last week officially distanced itself from any talk of instituting a national tax based on the number of miles vehicles travel, saying it is not considering such a levy on American drivers.

Nearly two years after Maersk Line, the world’s largest ocean carrier, shook up the system for delivering freight containers from U.S. ports by requiring drayage truckers for the first time to pay rental fees for chassis, three trade groups are trying to foster an orderly transition to a new intermodal reality.

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officials have postponed the July 17 effective date for a controversial regulation requiring that motor carriers and exporters report even small amounts of residual chemicals left inside cargo tank containers when returning from deliveries in Canada and Mexico.

The average price for a gallon of U.S. retail diesel declined last week for only the third time this year, dipping 2 cents to $4.104, the Department of Energy reported.