Trucks line up at an inspection station. (Utah Department of Transportation) A Washington think tank is encouraging the federal government to proceed with a legislatively mandated national pilot program to explore the viability of a vehicle-miles-traveled fee, a system viewed by some as a potential replacement for current federal fuel taxes on diesel and gasoline ...more
A Peterbilt-manufactured truck equipped with Kodiak Robotics' self-driving technology. (Raymond Rudolph/Kodiak Robotics) Driverless 18-wheel trucks won’t be driving down Interstate 880 or any other state highway anytime soon. And if a proposal sailing through the California Legislature becomes law, they won’t be able to do so without a human driver present until at least 2031. ...more
A box with Amazon Prime Day branded tape in a distribution cage at an Amazon fulfillment center in Dartford, U.K. (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg News) Amazon.com Inc. and Shopify Inc. have struck a deal to allow merchants who pay for Shopify’s e-commerce tools to use Amazon’s logistics network. The two companies, which both sell e-commerce software and ...more
Wabtec's FLXdrive battery-electric locomotives at the Freight 2030 event on Sept. 10, 2021 in Pittsburgh. (Ed Rieker/Associated Press for Wabtec) ERIE, Pa. — The country’s largest locomotive manufacturer and its striking union workers have reached a tentative agreement that could end a two-month strike that saw about 1,400 people walk off the job at its ...more
Yellow trucks at a YRC facility in Richfield, Ohio, on July 29. (Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press) Used trucks and trailers owned by bankrupt Yellow Corp. are set to come up for auction in unprecedented numbers, but the market can handle it, say observers. A liquidation of this size has not been seen for decades, Stacy Tracy, ...more
Reporters wade through floodwaters in downtown Tarpon Springs, Fla., area after Hurricane Idalia passed offshore on Aug. 30. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images via Bloomberg News) Florida has started to dig out from the aftermath of Idalia, which weakened to a tropical storm even as it brought heavy rain across Georgia and the Carolinas. While the hurricane ...more
A backup of barges on the Mississippi River in November of 2022. (Rory Doyle/Bloomberg News) The cost to transport America’s harvest from the Midwest to the rest of the world is soaring as shrinking water levels on the Mississippi River drive up barge freight rates — and the forecast for below-than-average rainfall offers no relief. ...more
Tail section of a UPS cargo jet. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg News) UPS Inc. is offering a voluntary severance package for 167 pilots amid a slump in air freight volume. “As part of our effort to efficiently manage our airline, we are offering a voluntary separation benefit to eligible UPS pilots,” UPS said in a statement. The ...more
Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin says China's practices are "not competition, that’s an economic disease eating into our communities.” (House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party via youtube.com) A bipartisan group of lawmakers joined trucking industry stakeholders at a meeting hosted by a U.S. trailer manufacturer to dissect what they view as ongoing, unfair trade ...more
Eaton headquarters in Dublin. The company is merging its Vehicle Group and eMobility unit. (Eaton Corp.) Eaton Corp. is preparing for the gradual transition of heavy-duty trucking away from diesel engines by integrating two segments of its operations, and ramping up production of transmission and brake systems needed for trucks using alternative fuels, according to ...more
