Business
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.
A Year of Pandemic: Commercial Vehicle Suppliers Kept Customers, Workforce in Mind
It was crucial for commercial vehicle suppliers to be identified as essential while they tried to find their way through COVID-19 when it first spread a year ago and deepened afterward, an executive with a leading supplier trade group said.
A Year of Pandemic: Logistics Companies Adapted as Needed
Logistics companies that diversified, were nimble and leveraged data-driven technologies had the best chance to continue operating throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
A Year of Pandemic: Number of Roadside Inspections Fell
“It was definitely a strange year for inspectors,” said Kerri Wirachowsky, director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s roadside inspection program. “In the beginning of the pandemic, a lot of agencies just stopped doing inspections completely, only stopping vehicles if they saw an imminent issue,” she said.
A Year of Pandemic: ATA President Spear Lauds Drivers as ‘Soldiers on the Front Lines’
American Trucking Associations President Chris Spear acknowledged the adversity the industry faced during the historic year.
A Year of Pandemic: Ports Battled COVID in 2020, and now Freight Crunch in 2021
American Association of Port Authorities CEO Chris Connor told Transport Topics the biggest takeaway from the coronavirus pandemic is the essential nature of ports.
A Year of Pandemic: Technology Key to States' Response
Victoria Sheehan, president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, said technology made an important difference in state transportation departments’ pandemic operations.
CP Rail Agrees to Buy Kansas City Southern for $25 Billion
Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. agreed to buy Kansas City Southern for $25 billion, seeking to create a 20,000-mile rail network linking the U.S., Mexico and Canada in the first year of those nations’ new trade alliance.
Automotive Chipmaker Renesas Says Fire Halts Production
Renesas Electronics Corp., one of the biggest makers of automotive chips, said a fire halted production at one of its Japanese plants. The incident may exacerbate a shortage of semiconductors that has already curbed vehicle output across the industry.
Buttigieg to Speak Before House Transportation Panel March 25
Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is scheduled to appear before the U.S. House transportation panel March 25.
Yokohama Website Redesigns Focus on Customers
Yokohama Tire Corp.’s websites for commercial and consumer customers were redesigned to enhance customer experience, the company announced March 17.
March 19, 2021