Business

Tesla’s announcement in November that it will produce an all-electric Class 8 tractor by 2019 helped highlight the potential for electric power in commercial trucking. But while Tesla and others are electrifying the entire truck, some companies are focusing on the axles.

Engineering advancements are producing more efficient alternators for heavy trucks that are helping to reduce fleets’ fuel bills, industry experts said.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - When former Pilot Flying J sales executive Dan Peyton learned a trucking company had been defrauded by his colleagues, he told jurors Jan. 18 he dialed up the truck stop giant’s then-president.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, whose states have significant freight corridors, set goals to overhaul the infrastructure in their states to ensure that the goods that bolster their economy can move freely.

Infrastructure needs have emerged as a top priority for most state administrators who received the go-ahead to spend millions of dollars on repairs as well as new construction projects that range from expanding highways to fixing decrepit roads to installing Intelligent Transportation Systems.

Consumer sentiment unexpectedly declined in January to a six-month low as American households viewed the economy less favorably, a University of Michigan report showed Jan. 19.

The U.S. is running out of patience with Canadian and Mexican resistance to key American proposals ahead of talks next week on a new North American Free Trade Agreement, two people familiar with the matter said.

WASHINGTON — The chorus of support for funding highways and infrastructure grew louder last week with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce unveiling a four-point plan that would raise fuel taxes, expedite the permitting process, facilitate more private investment and help construction firms address a shortage of skilled labor.

An autonomous-driving technology firm plans this year to begin commercial-hauling operations in Arizona using Class 8 trucks that will require nearly no driver control of the vehicle.

Americans grew more upbeat last week about the economy’s performance and the buying climate, allowing a measure of consumer sentiment to remain at an almost 17-year high, the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index showed Jan. 18.