WASHINGTON — An infrastructure grants program designed to assist communities struggling with high unemployment improve their freight connectivity was backed by a Senate funding committee June 5, following approval by the Republican-led House in May which included it as part of a 2015 spending bill.

Members of the trucking industry urged key senators on June 3 to approve a one-year suspension of restart restrictions aimed at truck drivers when a Senate committee considers a fiscal 2015 transportation funding bill later this week.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Acting Deputy Transportation Secretary Victor Mendez on June 3 cautioned Congress against approving a short-term legislative fix to address looming shortfalls in highway funding this summer, urging it to approve a long-term “strategic” plan instead.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is expected to offer an amendment today to a fiscal 2015 transportation funding bill that would address what her staff said are the unintended consequences of a federal truck safety rule that is opposed by much of the industry.

Managing large sets of freight data effectively improves officials’ ability to make roadways safer, improving the distribution of goods around the country, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx will tell data experts when they meet for an annual conference in Arlington, Virginia, June 3.

The Senate on May 22 easily passed a long-awaited water policy bill that would allow dredging at ports around the country ahead of the widening of the Panama Canal.