After sounding an optimistic note in the first half of the year as soaring car prices padded their profits, auto executives have become more resigned to supply chain headaches after recent COVID-19 outbreaks in Malaysia hampered semiconductor production.

The outlook for transportation and logistics in the fourth quarter focuses on the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic as well as the impending shopping season.

Loadsmart launched a platform in partnership with The Home Depot that helps facilitate flatbed backhauls by focusing on supply, the companies announced Sept. 29.

Online shoppers will be buying less this holiday season, but spending more.

European energy markets from natural gas to carbon permits jumped to records, signaling the supply shortage will get worse just as the winter season starts. Stockpiles of everything from gas to coal and Norwegian water for electricity production are dwindling and there are few signs the situation will improve anytime soon as demand continues to roar back from a pandemic-driven lull.

The federal government needs to invest more in West Coast ports, said the head of the Port of Los Angeles, which is the nation’s biggest gateway to Asia and is grappling with record backlogs.

Xcel Bulk Logistics announced that it has acquired the 1845 Commercial Bulk Division.

The U.S. Postal Service is making changes to its express shipping as of Oct. 1 that could delay some mail going across country.

Prime Inc. announced a partnership with Mastery Logistics Systems to implement a cloud-based transportation management system.

An enormous new kind of trucking center is rolling into the Twin Cities — thanks in part to the pandemic and the home-delivery giant Amazon.com Inc.