Some of the nation’s largest travel-stop companies are adding parking spaces and expanding operations in 2019, as national demand for truck parking continues to rise.

The U.S. average retail price of diesel increased ever so slightly the week of Feb. 4, rising to $2.966 a gallon, one-tenth of a cent higher than last week.

ATLANTA — Despite a generally strong economic performance in 2018, a global recession could be lurking in the shadows through 2019, a leading economist told attendees at the SMC3 Jump Start 2019 conference Jan. 30.

ATLANTA — The future of autonomous trucks is further down the road than people believe, but final-mile delivery by robots is closer to larger use, said Steve Banker of ARC Advisory Group, giving his assessment of future disruption at the SMC3 Jump Start conference.

ATLANTA — Incoming fuel regulations and political gridlock will bring unwelcome expenses and headaches to shipping and trucking companies through next year, according to one policy expert who spoke at SMC3 Jump Start 2019 on Jan. 29.

ATLANTA — Disruption is increasingly happening for freight movers as they seek to cross the United States’ borders with Mexico and Canada, and it’s not the positive technological change often associated with that word. Instead, it’s delayed freight or higher costs.

ATLANTA — A major new infrastructure bill is doable in 2019, despite the lack of new federal revenue to fund it, said U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson (R-Ga.), speaking at the 28th annual meeting of SMC3 Jump Start on Jan. 28.

WASHINGTON — More freight is moving and e-commerce is booming, but there is a finite amount of urban space for road use and parking for delivery vehicles. It’s a problem known as the final mile, and it’s especially profound in cities.

The U.S. petroleum industry is meeting record world demand while decreasing the amount of carbon emissions released into the skies, but challenges lie ahead if it hopes to maintain that momentum, according to the American Petroleum Institute’s annual report, “State of American Energy 2019.”