Government

LONDON — Ireland’s deputy prime minister said Feb. 28 that the European Union wants to work with Britain to ensure there is a Brexit deal as Irish drivers were warned they will need new paperwork to cross the currently invisible border to Northern Ireland if the U.K. leaves the bloc without an agreement.

WASHINGTON — A long-term strategy consisting of additional funding for freight programs should be among the provisions that members of Congress adopt when they consider a surface transportation policy bill in the 116th Congress, the association representing trade corridors told a Senate panel Feb. 26.

President Donald Trump’s pledge to his rural agricultural base to allow year-round sales of higher blends of ethanol spurred differing opinions between key federal agencies Feb. 27.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy slowed in the final three months of last year to an annual growth rate of 2.6%, the slowest pace since the beginning of 2018, as the government shutdown and other factors took a toll on growth. Economists believe growth has slowed even more in the current quarter.

NICOSIA, Cyprus — ExxonMobil has made the world’s third-biggest gas find in the past two years off the cost of Cyprus, the country’s government said Feb. 28.

DALLAS — Ray Martinez, the head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, urged carriers to complete the trucking industry’s transition to electronic logging devices and expressed optimism about the potential to add flexibility to driver hours-of-service rules.

Speaking to reporters at a conference hosted by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials on Feb. 27, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) explained that his committee would most likely tackle infrastructure policy via two paths.

WASHINGTON — Widespread adoption of autonomous vehicle technologies depends largely on public trust, according to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. Autonomous technology can take a variety of forms in transportation, from lane-departure warning systems and automated brakes to truck platooning. Automated technologies have, however, raised public concern over security and privacy.

A widebody cargo plane hauling packages for Amazon with three people aboard abruptly plunged out of the sky and slammed into a bay Feb. 23 as it was preparing to land in Houston.

The United States imported the least amount of crude oil on a weekly basis in 23 years, as OPEC-members Saudi Arabia and Venezuela cut their shipments to unusually low levels.