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HOUSTON — During the second half of 2007, when the U.S. economy and stock market were at their respective peaks, a colleague of James Crane said he was — for a brief while — bitter and unhappy. But as gross domestic product and the value of stocks, housing and other assets fell dramatically, the smile returned to Crane’s face as he realized the comfort of cash — hundreds of millions of dollars of it.

Get a group of truckers together anywhere in this country, and Minnesota’s “Fatigued Driving Evaluation Checklist” is bound to come up. The 75-item list gained national prominence when the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association sued the Minnesota State Patrol in federal court in an attempt to stop its use.

Third-party logistics firm Carter Logistics said it has opened a new cross-dock facility in Romulus, Mich.

WASHINGTON — Debbie Hersman, President Obama’s choice to lead the National Transportation Safety Board, told a Senate committee that other transportation agencies should voluntarily adopt the board’s recommendations, and if they don’t, Congress should order them to.

Truck-related highway fatalities plummeted 12% in 2008 to 4,229, the lowest total since the federal government began keeping records, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

At a time when good news in the trucking industry is hard to come by, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration served up a generous helping of it last week when it said that truck-related highway fatalities plummeted 12% last year.

The U.S. heavy-duty fleet truck fleet is aging as carrier executives scrimp to cut costs wherever they can amid the continuing national freight drought.

Transportation and logistics firm Amerijet International said it will acquire a majority interest in Nations Express.

Supply chain services company Flash Global Logistics said that the first half of 2009 was the company’s strongest six months, with the company adding 66 locations in China and adding new clients.