A court ruling has bolstered FedEx Ground’s use of independent contractors. Drivers or employees? Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled in favor of FedEx in a number of lawsuits that alleged the company improperly… Read More »Meet some FedEx Ground Entrepreneurs

 Updated: 12/22/2010 11:40:00 AM By Dan Leone, Staff Reporter This story appears in the Dec. 20 27 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today. A total of 22,902 medium-duty trucks were sold… Read More »Medium-Duty Truck Purchases Rose 30.4% in November

Truckers who work at night might as well kiss the 34-hour restart goodbye. “On the Road” blog by Jim Park, Equipment Editor For all the fretting and hand-wringing, and for the hundreds of thousands of… Read More »And They Wonder Why We're Cynical

 Updated: 12/22/2010 11:45:00 AM The U.S. gross domestic product rose at a 2.6% annual rate in the third quarter, higher than previous estimates, the Commerce Department said Wednesday in its final revision. Commerce last month… Read More »Third-Quarter GDP Revised Upward Again to 2.6%

A New York Supreme Court judge recently blocked a Department of Environmental Conservation mandate requiring the owners of heavy-duty diesel vehicles to retrofit their fleets with costly new equipment. The plaintiffs said the agency mistakenly… Read More »NY Judge Blocks Diesel-retrofit Mandate

 Updated: 12/23/2010 9:00:00 AM Durable goods orders climed 2.6% in November after a decrease the month before, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Excluding transportation, orders grew 2.4%. Orders for non-military goods excluding aircraft orders gained… Read More »Durables Orders Increase in November

ATA says the new HOS proposal disregards the negative safety impacts the proposed changes will have. By Oliver B. Patton, Washington Editor The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is proposing seven changes in the current… Read More »FMCSA Proposes Seven Changes in Hours Rule

 Updated: 12/23/2010 9:15:00 AM Consumer personal spending increased in November for the fifth consecutive month, the Commerce Department said Thursday. The 0.4 gain was slightly smaller than economists’ forecasts of a 0.5% increase, Bloomberg reported.… Read More »Consumer Spending Grows in November

Panther Expedited Services President and CEO, Andrew Clarke, spent a week on the road collecting donations. Panther Expedited Services has raised and donated $25,000 in cash and more than 200 toys on behalf of Toys… Read More »Panther Raises $25,000 on Behalf of Toys for Tots

 Updated: 12/23/2010 9:30:00 AM Initial jobless claims declined by 3,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. The decline to 420,000 matched estimates by economists, Bloomberg reported. The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure,… Read More »Jobless Claims Drop for Week

Oil closed Wednesday at $90.48 a barrel, the highest closing price seen since Oct. 3, 2008 Crude oil settled on the NYMEX on Wednesday at $90.48 a barrel, the highest closing price seen since Oct.… Read More »Crude Closes Above $90 on Stockpile Drop, Cold Weather, Good Job Numbers

 Updated: 12/23/2010 10:40:00 AM The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Thursday issued its latest hours-of-service proposal, though the agency has yet to decide if truckers should be allowed 10 or 11 hours of daily… Read More »FMCSA Proposes Revised HOS Rule