A Microvast battery pack and cell (Patrick Pleul/picture alliance/Getty Images) WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has canceled plans to award a $200 million grant to a U.S. battery manufacturer amid criticism from Republican lawmakers over the company’s alleged ties to China. Texas-based Microvast was one of 20 companies to win preliminary grants totaling $2.8 billion ...more
Alfa Romeo's plug-in hybrid, the 2024 Tonale, on a street in Milan, Italy. (Henry Payne/The Detroit News via Tribune Content Agency) MILAN — European governments have historically been more aggressive than the United States in regulating fuel consumption with high gas taxes, favorable diesel tax breaks and escalating penalties on nonelectric automobiles. That is about ...more
North Carolina Department of Transportation Design work is progressing on a project to convert the aging Alligator River Bridge from a two-lane swing to a fixed span bridge in a critical freight corridor on U.S. Route 64 in North Carolina. The $226.3 million project, partially funded through a recent $110 million bipartisan infrastructure mega federal ...more
A train sits at a Union Pacific terminal in Los Angeles. (Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press) OMAHA, Neb. — Engineers who operate trains for Union Pacific will soon have much more predictable schedules allowing them to plan when they are going to be off, a change that addresses one of the key quality-of-life concerns that pushed the ...more
Traffic on a California highway. Democrats defended EPA’s rule as a necessary public health measure. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images and Tribune Content Agency) WASHINGTON — The U.S. House voted 221-203 on May 23, mostly along party lines, to overturn an Environmental Protection Agency rule to reduce smog- and soot-forming emissions from heavy trucks. ...more
Julia Laurin by Truckstop Truckstop has ramped up a campaign aimed at combating trucking fraud through awareness and research. The web series, Fraud Prevention Friday, became the main initiative of this campaign when it launched May 19. The weekly series will bring together customer research and data while providing the freight industry with tips and ...more
"The committee took action to strengthen our supply chain in numerous," says Chairman Sam Graves (R-Mo.). (House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee) A panel in the House of Representatives recently approved proposals to boost the freight workforce and increase efficiency along commercial corridors. On May 23, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee advanced to the floor of ...more
Hair testing at a lab. (Psychemedics) It has been more than six years since Congress mandated that the Department of Health and Human Services adopt a drug testing rule allowing the use of hair samples to drug-test drivers and other federal safety-sensitive employees. Can the long wait now be coming to an end? The latest ...more
The Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) is asking people to report any unsafe driving that they spot after a truck driver was reportedly caught while driving fatigued on Tuesday. On Wednesday, May 24, NSP shared a social media post about the results of calls from concerned citizens regarding a truck hauling a livestock trailer.From NSP: “Just ...more
Six people were injured in a wreck involving three semi trucks and two cars in Washington on Tuesday. The chain-reaction crash happened at 8:30 a.m. on May 23rd near Spokane, Washington along Interstate 90. According to the Spokesman-Review, a semi truck was heading west on I-90 when it slowed for traffic stopped on the interstate. A ...more
