Business
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.
Canadian National Reports Mixed Fourth-Quarter Results
Canadian National Railway reported earnings more than doubled in the fourth quarter, although the final figures were bolstered by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
New Vehicles Tackle Challenges of Urban E-Commerce
Two entrepreneurs are introducing an autonomous vehicle and electric cargo bike designed to reduce the costs arising from the last-mile delivery and returns of e-commerce merchandise in urban areas.
Trump Swings Into Action on Trade, Adds Edge to NAFTA Talks
Trump took his first big step toward erecting trade barriers on Jan. 22 by slapping new “safeguard” duties on solar-panel and washing machine imports to protect U.S. industry.
CSX Will Adopt New Policy to Require CEOs to Receive Annual Physicals
CSX Corp. will adopt a new resolution Feb. 7 to require CEOs to undergo annual independent medical evaluations after a shareholder lobbied the company to do so shortly after Hunter Harrison’s death.
Maine Gov. LePage Forms Panel to Examine Issues Related to Driverless Vehicles
Maine Gov. Paul LePage took a step Jan. 17 toward regulating a rapidly emerging automotive technology that in the not-too-distant future could find self-driving cars, trucks and buses operating on Maine roads.
Tesla Crash With Autopilot Triggers Safety Board’s Interest
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is gathering information about an accident involving a Tesla Inc. Model S sedan that rear-ended a firetruck on a freeway near Los Angeles on Jan. 22, the agency said.
Trillium CNG Expanding Alt-Fuel Options for Customers
Trillium CNG, the nation’s second-largest provider of compressed natural gas fuel and related services, is expanding the type of alternative fuels it offers and will underscore how they are produced upstream to maximize emission reductions.
YRC, Union Pacific Execs Laud Tax Reform as Boon for Transportation Industry
ATLANTA — YRC Worldwide CEO James Welch and an executive at Union Pacific predicted that tax reform will drive further economic growth and higher freight demand, but voiced concerns about the future of NAFTA and the continued challenge of attracting younger workers during a logistics conference here.
Retread Industry Feels Pinch From Tire Imports
Low-cost truck tire imports, particularly those from China, have cut into domestic new-tire sales over the past five years. But they’ve had an even more dramatic effect on the U.S. retread tire industry.
Congress Awaits Infrastructure Plan Next Week; Freight Groups Oppose Tolls in Leaked Draft
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will need to vigorously promote his wide-ranging infrastructure funding proposal to help advance it through a skeptical Congress this year, the leader of the Senate committee on freight affairs said Jan. 24.