Business

P.A.M. Transportation Services reported a fourth-quarter loss of $3.9 million, or 42 cents per share, compared with a loss of $11.4 million, or $1.19, a year earlier.

China National Heavy Duty Trunk Group Co., that country’s largest heavy truck producer, sold 16,653 vehicles in January, up more than 300% from a year earlier, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

Confidence among U.S. small businesses increased in January for the first time in three months as the outlook for sales improved, the National Federation of Independent Business reported.

Regarding the letter with the headline “EOBRs Revisited,” there was a very interesting guest commentary about electronic onboard recorders recently in another publication, in which the author claimed only 2% of crashes occur after more than 10 hours of driving time.

If it works as advertised, trucking’s new safety rating machinery will be as quick and as responsive as a sports car when compared to the old, glacial way of doing things.

The Obama administration last week proposed a $4 billion “down payment” on a national infrastructure bank to supplement traditional highway funding, as part of its $78.8 billion budget proposal for the Department of Transportation.

Cargo theft increased sharply in 2009, according to an international insurer and a security firm, although two major carriers said they had experienced a drop in losses from theft and American Trucking Associations said good statistics were hard to come by.

Two manufacturers that supply parts to international truck makers reported improved results for the fourth quarter, with engine maker Cummins Inc. increasing profits and component maker ArvinMeritor Inc. eliminating a large loss and breaking even.

Law enforcement officials said they may not strictly enforce the Transportation Department’s recent ban on texting by commercial drivers until the government issues a specific regulation rather than reinterpretations of current rules, officials told Transport Topics.