Government

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has contracted with research firm Battelle to study and survey the prevalence, seriousness and nature of the problem of harassment and assaults against female and minority male truckers.

WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats’ version of a bill that would update highway operations around the country will be unveiled in March, the leader of the U.S. House of Representatives’ highway panel indicated Feb. 26.

Alphabet’s Waymo and General Motors-backed Cruise saw their autonomous vehicles require less help from human drivers on California’s public roads in 2019.

Trucking insurance premiums have been on the rise in recent years and are expected to get worse.

The Trump administration has decided to pare exemptions for oil refineries from U.S. requirements to use biofuels in response to a federal court ruling last month, according to two people familiar with the matter.

WASHINGTON — U.S. sales of new homes jumped 7.9% in January to the fastest pace in more than 12 years, a positive sign for economic growth.

DETROIT — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed executive orders Feb. 25 to create a council on future mobility and electrification, establish the Michigan Office of Future Mobility and to appoint a chief mobility officer.

Plans to build a $2.3 billion electric battery assembly plant near General Motors Corp.’s shuttered automobile plant in Lordstown, Ohio, will be reviewed during a March 12 public hearing in Lordstown.

WASHINGTON — The expiration this fall of the country’s central highway policy law means that its reauthorization must be urgently addressed by Congress, Ed Mortimer, transportation director at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told a Senate committee Feb. 25.

Oil deepened a three-day rout as panic over a coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. gripped investors and sent shockwaves through commodity, equity and debt markets.