The looming U.S. rail strike threatens to push inflation even higher across the country after prices jumped more than expected last month.

The White House is considering the use of emergency powers to ensure critical materials, such as chlorine for wastewater treatment plants, can be delivered in the event of a freight rail worker strike in order to avoid devastating disruptions to services.

OMAHA, Neb. — Railroads will be required to maintain two-person crews under a new rule announced July 27 that will thwart industry efforts to cut crews down to one person.

American Trucking Associations called on federal elected leaders to ensure ongoing freight rail workforce negotiations avoid disrupting key aspects of the nation’s supply chain.

Major railroads, including Union Pacific Corp. and BNSF Railway Co., and their unions remain at an impasse after a government board ended efforts to mediate a settlement, a move that will likely force President Joe Biden’s administration to intervene and prevent a strike that could cripple an already-strained U.S. supply chain.

A wrinkle has emerged in the yearlong, multibillion-dollar battle between rival railroad giants Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. over which of the Class I railroads will own and operate the smaller, but strategically important, freight carrier Kansas City Southern.

The Jan. 4 announcement appears to be a significant step in that direction. According to the governor’s office, the overall concept calls for $231.6 million in investment in rail projects “to upgrade economic development infrastructure in central and southern Alabama.”

Federal officials, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and a host of other stakeholders said expansion of the 126-year-old, 1.7-mile Howard Street Tunnel in Baltimore is long overdue.

The Surface Transportation Board is taking public comments until June 28 on the proposed multibillion dollar merger of Class I freight rail companies Canadian National and Kansas City Southern.

In a move that could help speed up the path to a trial, a District of Columbia federal judge ruled in a multidistrict federal lawsuit that more than 200 shippers are entitled to pursue certain evidence to support their allegation that the four largest Class I railroads may have conspired to fix fuel surcharge prices.