Business

U.S. retail sales increased in December for a fourth month, indicating strong consumer demand throughout the holiday season, according to Commerce Department figures released Jan. 12.

Next year, General Motors Co. will no longer need an engineer in the front seat babysitting the robot brain that controls its self-driving Chevrolet Bolt. The steering wheel and pedals will be gone, giving total control to the machine.

WASHINGTON — Missouri Republican Rep. Sam Graves, among the leading candidates to succeed outgoing Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster next year, said he is optimistic about the chances of advancing a massive infrastructure plan this year.

2018 is shaping up to be a potentially transformative year on the government front for freight transportation. Our Jan. 17 LiveOnWeb program, “2018 Government Outlook,” dissected the prospects for infrastructure reform and regulatory issues that will impact trucking businesses. Watch the replay.

WASHINGTON — Electric-vehicle technology for the medium- and heavy-duty sector is developing rapidly, but the price and range of these vehicles must improve for widespread deployment to take hold, industry experts said.

A comeback is unlikely at the Port of Portland’s container terminal unless other lines of marine shipping business are found to subsidize it, a Port consultant found.

WASHINGTON — The most likely scenario of what will happen if negotiations to reset terms for the North American Free Trade Agreement are successful — or not — is that President Donald Trump announces, probably via Twitter, a U.S. withdrawal from the deal. This would leave what experts call a zombie NAFTA.

In a day and age where nearly every product customers purchase is transported by a semi-truck, trucking companies are struggling to find qualified drivers to fill open positions.