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Future U.S. economic vitality depends on an adequately funded rural road system that can accommodate heavier trucks, a South Dakota trucking company president told a Senate committee last week.

YRC Worldwide said it took another step toward financial health by winning approval from most Teamsters to cut pay by another 5% and halt pension benefits for 18 months, steps that will save at least $45 million a month.

In the face of growing pressure on the federal government to regulate oil markets and trading, the Federal Trade Commission has issued a new rule that could result in fines of up to $1 million if traders or companies are found manipulating fuel markets.

Gainey Corp., a Michigan fleet seeking to emerge from bankruptcy, has reached agreement with lenders and unsecured creditors on a plan to give an 80% holding in the reorganized company to Arizona investor Najafi Companies.

The average retail price of a gallon of diesel in the United States rose 7.5 cents last week to $2.625, the highest level this year, the Energy Department reported.

U.S. consumer confidence fell this month for the second straight month, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan monthly consumer sentiment index released Friday.

The consumer price index was unchanged in July, the Labor Department said Friday.

A Los Angeles man has been sentenced to serve more than four years in federal prison and pay $2.7 million in restitution to 300 trucker and broker victims for his part in an Internet load-board scheme that included hacking into the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Web site.