Government

The centerpiece of the Transportation Security Administration’s program to screen employees entering ports looks just like most access cards or identifications one would carry in his or her wallet.

Oil prices rose to near $100 a barrel in early trading Monday, the Associated Press reported.

Citations issued by the California Air Resources Board for engine emission control labels that are missing or have been tampered with now carry penalties of as much as $800, the agency said.

Long Beach officials last week put finishing touches on a sweeping, unprecedented set of rules aimed at dramatically cutting emissions from the 17,000 drayage trucks working at the huge California container port, rejecting the plan’s most controversial feature that would have forced independent owner-operators to work for larger carriers.

U.S. retail diesel prices soared 11.6 cents last week to a national average of $3.396 a gallon, the highest level since early December, the Department of Energy reported.

Two years after it was first announced, the federal government has begun a full rollout of its plan to provide high-tech, secure identification for workers in and around America’s ports.

Universal Truckload Services, Warren, Mich., said it earned about $4.8 million, or 30 cents a share in the fourth quarter of 2007, down from $5.3 million, or 33 cents, in the previous quarter.

Connecticut transportation officials announced the completion of a “truck escape ramp” on Route 44.

Truckload carrier Knight Transportation said it has taken delivery of its 1,000 tractor certified to the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2007 emission standards.

The index of leading economic indicators January fell for the fourth consecutive month, driven down by deterioration in the stock and housing markets, the New York-based Conference Board said Thursday.