Business

U.S. retail sales of Class 8 trucks fell 39.8% in July from a year earlier, WardsAuto.com reported, as the trucking industry struggles with an uneven economy and the effects of earlier overproduction.

Truck drivers in Canada will likely soon be required to be outfitted with electronic logging devices, with full implementation of a rule expected before the end of the decade, according to a Transport Canada official.

The New York State Teamsters Conference Pension and Retirement Fund later this month plans to seek federal approval to cut retiree pension benefits by 31%, becoming the second trucking union planning to announce that step as a way of preserving future benefits.

A last-ditch effort from two shipper groups to suspend changes to the bill of lading failed when the Surface Transportation Board denied their Aug. 12 request but offered an avenue to address their concerns later this year.

Volvo Trucks North America said beginning in October it will offer a new factory fill engine oil, VDS-4.5, for its D11, D13 and D16 engines that exceed the new API specification CK-4.

Traffic through Canada’s biggest port fell during the first half of the year, hit by weak industrial activity at home and slackening demand for commodities in Asia, another sign of trouble for the nation’s sputtering economy.

The Panama Canal's recent expansion will create economic opportunities for South Texas but also pressures ports to step up improvements to their infrastructure, a panel of transportation industry experts said Aug. 18.

Much of the focus of the federal Smart City grant money recently awarded to Columbus has been on alternative transportation development for humans. But the logistics business, which involves moving goods rather than people, also stands to reap benefits.

Truckload carrier American Central Transport announced that Phil Wilt has been named president, succeeding Tom Kretsinger Jr., a well-known industry executive who held that position since 2005.