Government
Transport Topics government and regulatory coverage keeps managers of a highly-regulated industry aware of the policy decisions that can shape their businesses. Covering both the legislative and regulatory aspects of policy-making, at both the state and national levels, the news in this category includes looks at infrastructure, hours of service, emissions rules, funding measures, leadership appointments, and more. Readers can follow what’s happening in Congress, at the Department of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Administration, and in state and local governments.
FMCSA Household Goods Panel Aims to Stop Dishonest Movers
WASHINGTON — An increasing number of today’s interstate household moves aren’t executed by the nation’s 4,153 traditional moving companies, according to the newly formed Household Goods Consumer Protection Working Group, posing potential harm to consumers by unregulated firms usually found online.
Daily Briefings from Transport Topics
Transport Topics has partnered with Spoken Layer to make one-minute daily briefings available on all your smart devices. Simply say “Alexa, play Transport Topics” or “Okay Google, talk to Transport Topics” to get the day’s biggest trucking headlines.
Smart Windshields Seen as the New Ad Billboards
The next frontier in digital advertising may be your car’s windshield.
Oklahoma Transportation Department Presents Budget Needs to State Lawmakers
Lawmakers in the Oklahoma House of Representatives on Jan. 5 sat through a second day of in-depth budget hearings that give agency heads a chance to ask for more money.
Montana Towns Band Together for Big Infrastructure Lobbying Push
When serious structural problems were discovered on two interchange bridges for interstates 15-90 in Butte, Montana state transportation officials scrambled to reroute semis and get immediate repair work under way.
Creative Highway Signs Get the Message Across to Rhode Island Drivers
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — New England motorists have become familiar with idiosyncratic highway safety messages ever since Massachusetts began urging them to "Use Yah Blinkah" two years ago. But the new Rhode Island billboards had some Rhode Islanders scratching their heads, in some cases as a matter of taste and others out of genuine confusion.
Trump's Trade Team Suggests His Hardnosed Campaign Talk Was No Bluff
The makeup of President-elect Donald Trump’s trade team suggests he wasn’t joking when he promised voters to shake things up.
75 MPH Speed Limit OK'd for Some Rural Michigan Highways
LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Rick Snyder jumped on the speed train Jan. 5 when he signed a bill boosting the state's speed limit to 75 miles per hour on about 600 miles of highways in rural areas of the state. The bills also raise the maximum speed limit for trucks from 60 to 65 mph.
Service Industries Expand at Faster Pace Than Forecast
America’s service providers expanded more than forecast last month, spurred by an upturn in orders that coincided with stepped-up demand at the nation’s factories.
Consumer Comfort Gauge in 2016 Was Strongest in Nine Years
American households were more upbeat last year on average than at any time since 2007, according to figures in the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index released Jan. 5.
Trogdon Named to Run North Carolina’s DOT
Roy Cooper, who will be sworn in as North Carolina’s governor on Jan. 7, named Jim Trogdon as his secretary of transportation on Jan. 3.