Business

About Business News...

Transport Topics business coverage focuses on the financial, economic, and commercial aspects of the modern freight business. Looking at both the microeconomic and macroeconomic forces shaping bottom lines, the news in this category includes labor news, jobs reports, tonnage and sales indicators, operations analysis, money and banking, mergers, acquisitions, e-commerce, bankruptcy, insurance issues, and more.

Business, Technology, Fuel

NACFE Report Predicts Multiple Fuels Will Give Way to Battery-Electric

The North American Council for Freight Efficiency forecasts commercial battery-electric vehicles and fuel cell trucks will be capable of lower total cost of ownership, compared with baseline diesel trucks, in the 2030 time frame.

Roger Gilroy | Senior Reporter
December 10, 2019
Business, Technology, Logistics, Perspective

Perspective: New Year, New Logistics Efficiencies

As the year comes to a close, it’s a natural time for companies to look at what worked in 2019 and what didn’t, and make plans for the year ahead. For some companies, taking a hard look at their order fulfillment workflow — and ways it might be streamlined in 2020 — is a New Year’s resolution to consider.

Johannes Panzer | Head of Industry Solutions, E-commerce, Descartes Systems Group
December 10, 2019
Business

Celadon ‘Didn’t Get the Time’ It Needed, Analyst Says

A Wall Street analyst who tracks Celadon Group said a lack of time and weakness in the trucking sector contributed to the company’s decision to file for bankruptcy and close its doors. 

Dan Ronan | Senior Reporter
December 10, 2019
Government, Business, Technology, Safety, Autonomous

Tesla on Autopilot Rear-Ends a Parked Cop Car in Connecticut

Another Tesla Inc. vehicle operating on the carmaker’s driver-assistance system branded as Autopilot has crashed into a parked emergency vehicle, eliciting fresh warnings about the shortcomings of automated technology on public roads.

Chester Dawson | Bloomberg News
December 10, 2019
Business, Technology, Autonomous, TCA

Spread the News: Self-Driving Truck Makes Cross-Country Butter Delivery

A Silicon Valley startup has completed what appears to be the first commercial freight cross-country trip by an autonomous truck, which finished a 2,800-mile-run from Tulare, Calif., to Quakertown, Pa., for Land O’Lakes in less than three days. The trip was smooth like butter, 40,000 pounds of it.

Levi Sumagaysay | The Cupertino (Calif.) Courier
December 10, 2019
Business, Technology, Safety, Autonomous

Volvo Group Venture Capital Invests in Apex.AI, Autotech Ventures

Volvo Group Venture Capital AB announced it invested in Apex.AI, a startup software company involved in autonomous mobility, to help fund the development of a safety-certified software framework for autonomous systems.

Roger Gilroy | Senior Reporter
December 10, 2019
Government, Business

House Democrats Plan USMCA Vote as Nancy Pelosi Lauds Revised Deal

House Democrats plan a vote the week of Dec. 16 on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free-trade agreement, Speaker Nancy Pelosi told her members, saying the deal was changed to meet her demands.

Erik Wasson | Bloomberg News
December 10, 2019
Business, Technology, Fuel

GM Loans Ohio Plant Buyer $40 Million to Launch Electric Truck

General Motors Co. loaned the buyer of its half-century-old assembly plant in Ohio $40 million to help the cash-strapped startup roll out an electric pickup truck.

David Welch | Bloomberg News
December 10, 2019
Government, Business, Safety, Logistics

PennDOT P3 Project Will Address I-81 Improvements

Leaders within the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation have approved a public-private partnership to reconstruct a portion of Interstate 81.

Eleanor Lamb | Staff Reporter
December 10, 2019
Government, Business

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont Proposes Truck Tolls

A trucks-only tolling system in Connecticut is part of the latest iteration of Gov. Ned Lamont’s transportation investment plan.

Eleanor Lamb | Staff Reporter
December 10, 2019