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This afternoon's headlines: Volvo promotes truck executives; Sears to close 89 stores; factory orders rose in November; and more.

Pennsylvania Congressman Bud Shuster announced Thursday that he will be retiring on Jan. 31. The 14-term Republican lawmaker chaired the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for 6 years.

Two late-year merger announcements in trucking made a splash on Wall Street in 2000, a year marked otherwise by stagnant or falling stock prices due to concerns that high fuel costs and transportation equities are a bad mix.

The Arkansas Trucking Association is preparing a bill that would be introduced in the General Assembly to revamp the way members of the Arkansas State Highway Commission are selected for office.

In the news this morning: Fed rate cut drives down oil prices; Forward Air buys air assets of Expedited Delivery Services; Calif. wildfires close section of I-8; and more.

Today's technology headlines: Cell phone law takes effect in N.Y. county; drivers - and driver services firms - warm up to the Internet; grocery stores wrestle with logistics of hoem delivery; and more.

This afternoon's headlines: Construction spending fell slightly in November; steel production down from last year; FedEx Custom Critical to open dispatch center in Nevada; and more.

The Federal Reserve, in a surprise move spurred by the rapidly deteriorating economy, cut interest rates Wednesday, slashing the federal funds rate by half a percentage point to 6% and trimming the discount rate a quarter-point to 5.75%.

When George W. Bush becomes president Jan. 20, he will have someone with the highest levels of transportation policy experience at his right hand.

Diesel customers got a Christmas present in the form of a fourth consecutive drop in the retail price, but it won’t last as long as the leftover turkey.