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, Safety

Arizona DOT, Willcox Team for Freight Study

The Arizona Department of Transportation is conducting a study regarding freight movement in the city of Willcox.

Eleanor Lamb | Staff Reporter
August 20, 2021
Government, Business, Safety

Planning, Hydration Can Protect Truck Drivers During Heat Waves

As a series of extreme heat waves settled over large swaths of the country this summer, professional truck drivers were at times exposed to temperatures well over 100 degrees as they worked to deliver the nation’s freight.

Gregory Van Tighem | Special to Transport Topics
August 20, 2021
Business, Equipment

Mark Stuebe Named President of Jacobs Vehicle Systems

Jacobs Vehicle Systems announced it named Mark Stuebe president. He is a 30-year veteran in the commercial vehicle and industrial manufacturing industries.

August 20, 2021
Business, Technology, Equipment, Fuel

Xos Is Latest Electric Truck Maker to Debut as Public Company

Los Angeles-based Xos Inc., which is developing fully electric Classes 5-8 commercial vehicles for last-mile service, announced the completion of its business combination with NextGen Acquisition Corp. The combined company will have the name Xos Inc. and its shares began trading Aug. 20 on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol XOS.

Roger Gilroy | Senior Reporter
August 20, 2021
Business

Henri Targets Long Island, New England

Tropical Storm Henri is set to grow into a hurricane before slamming the Northeast anywhere from Long Island to Massachusetts, bringing heavy rain, a flooding storm surge and thrashing winds to the region starting Aug. 22.

Brian K. Sullivan | Bloomberg News
August 20, 2021
Government, Business, Technology, Equipment, Safety, Autonomous

NTSB’s Jennifer Homendy Says Automated Driving Claims Erode Public Trust

The nation’s new chief accident investigator wants to send a message: growing public confusion over automated driving systems in the U.S. is threatening to undermine the potential safety benefits of the technology.

Alan Levin | Bloomberg News
August 20, 2021
Government, Business, Safety

As Nuclear Verdicts Drive Up Costs, Focus Is on Safety, Data

Escalating insurance costs have become a severe financial headwind for trucking companies in an industry already known for tight profit margins.

Katie Pyzyk | Special to Transport Topics
August 20, 2021
Business, Logistics

Amazon Became Hedge Fund Favorite Just Before Shares Tumbled

Hedge funds piled into Amazon.com Inc. in the second quarter, putting themselves on the front line of losses as the stay-at-home trade began to unravel.

Joanna Ossinger | Bloomberg News
August 20, 2021
Business, Logistics

The Search for Drivers and the Fight to Keep Them

Although career opportunities in trucking are abundant, the driver shortage has been a thorn in the industry’s side for years, and it has only become more severe as freight demand has surged amid the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Michael Freeze | Features Editor
August 20, 2021
Business, Technology, Autonomous

Tesla Swaps Year-Away Robotaxis for Year-Away Humanoid Robot

More than two years after touting plans to turn Tesla Inc. vehicles into robotaxis that have yet to materialize, Elon Musk held another highly technical event about autonomous driving development.

Dana Hull and Ed Ludlow | Bloomberg News
August 20, 2021