Government

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) signed a law to promote the use of biofuels, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% in the state, the Associated Press reported.

Trucking company bankruptcies more than doubled in the second quarter, soaring 118% from last year as high fuel prices pushed 970 U.S. carriers out of business, a leading industry analyst said.

Large truckload fleets are gaining business by shifting from marginally profitable longhaul lanes to regional trucking, which in turn is forcing smaller carriers with fewer resources to fight for that longhaul business, industry experts said.

The cost advantage offered by shipping direct and avoiding paying for warehousing and inventory is dwindling, possibly forever, as the price of fuel rises. As a result, more carriers have started looking at warehousing to play a larger role in the logistics process.

A congressional panel next month plans to review a plan by UPS to DHL Americas’ air shipments, Bloomberg reported late Friday.

Truckload carrier P.A.M. Transportation Services said it lost $1.3 million, or 14 cents a share, in the second quarter, compared with net income of $2.2 million, or 21 cents, a year earlier.

Wholesale inventories rose 1.1% in June, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Second-quarter U.S. worker productivity rose 2.2%, the Labor Department said Friday.

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday that the agency was denying a request by the state of Texas to cut the amount of ethanol required in U.S. gasoline supplies by 50% over the next year.