Business

Disasters, both man-made and natural, come in all shapes and sizes, but regardless of the source, the only way to minimize disruptions to business is to have a comprehensive disaster-recovery plan in place, fleet managers and industry experts said.

First-quarter trucking earnings reports, the first of them released last week, generally are expected to trail the 2013 period because of higher costs to counter cold weather, snow and ice that struck the South, Midwest and Northeast.

BNSF Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway, the primary railroads in oil-rich North Dakota, last week came under federal pressure to accelerate fertilizer shipments to the region after delays on both lines slowed that freight as planting deadlines approach.

Rep. Tom Petri (R-Wis.), chairman of the highway and transit panel of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said he will join a growing number of colleagues in retiring at the end of the current term.

TUCSON, Ariz. — Legislation aimed at creating a national standard for determining how carriers are qualified and addressing inconsistent handling of liability cases is expected to be introduced in Congress later this month, Transportation Intermediaries Association President Robert Voltmann said.

A bill opposed by the trucking industry to classify independent drayage operators and parcel delivery drivers as company employees has been reintroduced in the New Jersey Legislature.

The average retail price of U.S. diesel dipped for a fifth straight week, falling 0.7 cent a gallon from the previous week to $3.952, the Department of Energy reported.

The federal Highway Trust Fund will have “insufficient revenues to meet obligations” beginning in fiscal 2015, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s latest estimate of the president’s budget proposal.

A Wyoming trucking company is facing fines of nearly $1 million for allegations of dumping oil drilling waste on a country road in North Dakota, state mining officials said.