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A $287 billion highway bill the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee easily advanced last month is notable for several big-picture proposals.

The 53-foot containers that are vital to the movement of goods into the United States from overseas have been removed from a list of items that would be subject to tariffs on goods arriving from China, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Aug. 13.

Groups representing key segments of the freight industry had mostly positive reactions to federal regulators’ proposal to change hours-of-service rules for commercial drivers.

Heidi King, acting head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, will step down from the agency at the end of the month, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced Aug. 12.

Experts in the fields of manufacturing, logistics and the petroleum industry are scheduled to participate in American Trucking Associations’ economic summit in September.

Tucked into highway policy legislation that the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee recently advanced is a provision calling for possible strategies to prepare for the impact of severe weather events as part of a nationwide plan for improving freight connectivity.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration agreed to allow 126 drivers to operate trucks along interstates after it provisionally renewed their exemptions from a vision requirement.

Robert Sumwalt and Jennifer ���ϳԹ���ndy were confirmed by the Senate on Aug. 1 to continue serving on the National Transportation Safety Board.

The implementation of automatic braking systems on the country’s railroads was operational on nearly 90% of route miles required by law, Federal Railroad Administrator Ron Batory told a Senate panel July 31. The status of the implementation marked a 4% increase since the year’s first quarter.