Business

DALLAS — Ray Martinez, the head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, urged carriers to complete the trucking industry’s transition to electronic logging devices and expressed optimism about the potential to add flexibility to driver hours-of-service rules.

Transport Topics now offers a daily news briefing available each weekday morning via smart speaker devices, such as Amazon Echo and Google Home.

Speaking to reporters at a conference hosted by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials on Feb. 27, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) explained that his committee would most likely tackle infrastructure policy via two paths.

WASHINGTON — Widespread adoption of autonomous vehicle technologies depends largely on public trust, according to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. Autonomous technology can take a variety of forms in transportation, from lane-departure warning systems and automated brakes to truck platooning. Automated technologies have, however, raised public concern over security and privacy.

SoftBank Vision Fund, along with several partners, has invested $1 billion in Flexport Inc., a full-service air and ocean freight forwarder, according to Flexport’s blog.

SAN DIEGO — Creative methods for recruiting new hires and recognizing existing drivers’ efforts can help commercial fleets keep their vehicles’ seats filled, experts said here during the Lytx User Group Conference.

A widebody cargo plane hauling packages for Amazon with three people aboard abruptly plunged out of the sky and slammed into a bay Feb. 23 as it was preparing to land in Houston.

The United States imported the least amount of crude oil on a weekly basis in 23 years, as OPEC-members Saudi Arabia and Venezuela cut their shipments to unusually low levels.

Walmart has begun expanding the scope and capabilities of its private fleet, taking over store distribution from dedicated contract carriers at facilities in Maine, Indiana and Ohio, while also adding a new intermodal service using a proprietary container design and company drivers to provide drayage service.

Hyundai Motor Co. joined automakers pledging massive spending in the years ahead to address the industry’s transformation and fend off new competition from the likes of Tesla Inc.