Logistics

NEW YORK — California is suing Amazon, accusing the company of violating the state’s antitrust laws by stifling competition and engaging in practices that push sellers to maintain higher prices on products on other sites.

A measure of U.S. producer prices fell for a second month in August as fuel costs continued to retreat, though an underlying measure of wholesale costs solidified a sign of persistent inflation in the production pipeline.

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

Construction continues moving forward to replace a new bridge and revamped port of entry connecting Maine and Canada to save trucks from a long detour due to load restrictions on an aging 100-year-old bridge.

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.

The percentage of female technicians working at transportation companies remains low, the Women In Trucking Association Index found Sept. 12.

As shippers and retailers head into the peak shopping season, ongoing labor negotiations are being closely watched for any signs of disruption, which experts say would have a huge impact on the U.S. economy.

While products for the most part are no longer sitting on ships waiting to be offloaded, the supply chain kink has just moved farther down the line — to warehouses, where much of the freight that was on those ships missed its window to be in the retail store.

OMAHA, Neb. — The heads of the nation’s two largest rail unions said Sept. 11 that the freight railroads’ move to begin delaying some shipments ahead of this week’s looming strike deadline is only an attempt to get shippers to increase the pressure on Congress to intervene and block a work stoppage by imposing a contract on workers.

With a Sept. 16 deadline looming, pressure is mounting on the nation’s major freight railroads and the unions to reach an agreement and avoid a potentially crippling strike or lockout.