Government

U.S. safety regulators are investigating reports that autonomous robotaxis run by General Motors’ Cruise can stop too quickly or unexpectedly quit moving, potentially stranding passengers.

President Joe Biden during his State of the Union Address to Congress this year proclaimed that the United States was embarking on an “infrastructure decade,” setting the tone for the administration’s efforts to implement the bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure law.

The Senate on Dec. 15 approved legislation to fund the government through Dec. 23 to avert a federal shutdown. The House approved this short-term bill Dec. 14, mostly along party lines. Federal funding authority was to have expired Dec. 16.

Ford Motor Co. and China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. are considering building a battery manufacturing plant in Michigan in a complex arrangement designed to reap new tax benefits.

Virginia has $97.6 million in two new low-interest federal loans to improve safety and traffic flows along its rolling Interstate 81 that cuts through rural mountain areas in a main trucking route linking southern economic areas and northeast markets.

Gov. John Bel Edwards, the Port of New Orleans and two global maritime companies on Dec. 13 announced the formation of a public-private partnership to build a new $1.8 billion container facility on the lower Mississippi River.

The Federal Reserve reinforced its inflation fight Dec. 14 by raising its key interest rate for the seventh time this year and signaling more hikes to come.

The North American Council for Freight Efficiency said fuel efficiency in Class 8 trucks participating in its annual fleet study from 2018 to 2020 remained flat at 7.24 mpg after seven previous years of 2% annual increases.

California’s move toward its 2035 goal of requiring all drayage trucks to be zero-emission is ramping up. Port and trucking experts say to achieve that, the hard work needs to be done now and for at least the next 10 years.

With extra holiday congestion at the El Paso border, Texas Department of Public Safety officers are conducting random enhanced inspections on commercial vehicles as they cross international ports of entry from Mexico into Texas to combat illegal activity.