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Heavy-duty component supplier Dana Corp. said Wednesday it was cutting its profit forecast for the first quarter because of rising steel prices and falling auto production.

The number of U.S. workers filing for unemployment benefits for the first time rose by 3,000 in the week ended March 19, according to a Labor Department report. The increase pushed initial jobless claims to 324,000, Labor said.

A federal judge could issue a ruling on the District of Columbia’s proposed ban on the transportation of hazardous materials in the next two weeks, news services reported Wednesday.

An explosion at a BP petrochemical plant near Houston Wednesday temporarily closed the Houston Ship Channel and sent gasoline prices spiking, news services reported.

The price of crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell roughly 4% in trading Wednesday before closing down $2.22 at a two-week low of $53.81, news services reported.

Less-than-truckload giant Yellow Roadway Corp. said Wednesday it expected its first-quarter earnings to be “at or above the high end of its previously provided guidance of 80 cents to 90 cents per share.”

Truckload carrier Covenant Transport Inc. said Wednesday its first-quarter earnings would be between breakeven and a loss of 6 cents per share.

Reports by the U.S. Department of Energy and the American Petroleum Institute both showed increases in the amount of crude oil the U.S. had on hand, but both groups said the country’s supplies of diesel and gasoline fell in the past week.

Governmental mandates may be needed to ensure protection of hazardous materials shipments, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said in the agency's final version of its report on technologies to protect hazmat shipments.