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, Logistics

Harbor Truckers Express Cautious Optimism on Turn Times in 2017

Truck drivers took one minute longer, on average, to enter and exit the two large ports in Southern California in December 2017 compared with the same month in 2016, although the full-year average was three minutes faster than a year ago.

Ari Ashe | Staff Reporter
January 18, 2018
Business

J.B. Hunt Profits Grow Significantly Due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. announced that profits more than tripled in the fourth quarter, although, as will be the case across multiple industries, the results were bolstered by a significant tax credit related to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed last month.

Ari Ashe | Staff Reporter
January 18, 2018
Government, Business

Wisconsin’s Expanded Frozen Road Law Eases Weight Limit for Timber Haulers

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has expanded its “frozen road” law that allows trucks moving forest products, salt and sand to carry heavier loads.

Eleanor Lamb | Staff Reporter
January 18, 2018
Business, Technology, Equipment, Safety, Autonomous, TCA

San Francisco Self-Driving Car Startup Pony.ai Raises $112 Million

It’s a measure of the current frenzy surrounding self-driving cars that a year-old startup can haul in more than $100 million in its first fundraising round.

David R. Baker | Bloomberg News
January 18, 2018
Business, Logistics, TCA

Deep Freeze Slows Flights, Sorting at FedEx Express World Hub in Memphis

A deep freeze following snow Jan. 16 continued to disrupt FedEx’s world hub in Memphis on Jan. 17, causing potential delays in package deliveries.

Wayne Risher | The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tenn.)
January 18, 2018
Business, Logistics

CSX Executive James Foote Promises to Continue Hunter Harrison’s Vision for Railroad

The new management team at CSX Inc. released improved financial results for the fourth quarter of 2017 and promised to carry out former CEO Hunter Harrison’s vision of a new, more efficient and more profitable railroad.

Daniel P. Bearth | Staff Writer
January 18, 2018
Government, Business, Technology, Fuel

EPA Proposal to Repeal Glider Kit Limit Draws Strong Battle Lines

A proposal by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to repeal a limit on the number of glider kits built annually is shaping up to be a battle pitting independent truckers and those that would reap economic benefits from more gliders against environmentalists, new truck makers and most trucking-related trade organizations.

Eric Miller | Senior Reporter
January 18, 2018
Business, TCA

North Dakota Town Rallies Around Trucking Company Lost to Fire

Not even a day after an early morning fire Jan. 16 consumed semi and farm trucks whole and left just a smoldering shell of the longtime Korsmo Brothers Farms and Trucking business, a makeshift office opened and the deliveries rolled on.

Janelle Vonasek | Grand Forks Herald
January 18, 2018
Government, Business, Technology

FMCSA Grants ELD Waivers to Old Dominion, MPAA

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has granted Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. and the Motion Picture Association of America exemptions from hours-of-service regulations pertaining to the electronic logging device mandate.

Eleanor Lamb | Staff Reporter
January 18, 2018
Business

Jobless Claims Plunge to Lowest Tally Since 1973

U.S. filings for unemployment benefits plummeted to the lowest level in almost 45 years in a sign the job market will tighten further in 2018, Labor Department figures showed Jan. 18.

Katia Dmitrieva | Bloomberg News
January 18, 2018