ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pledged swift action on new legislation boosting stimulus payments for individuals to $2,000, urging Republicans to join Democrats in meeting a last-minute demand from President Donald Trump that threw a historic pandemic relief package into doubt.

American shoppers shunned stores and extended their online binge during the last weekend before Christmas, adding to a package-delivery logjam that’s now reaching a crescendo.

Hundreds of stranded truck drivers hoped to get the green light to leave Britain on Dec. 22 as the country found itself increasingly isolated and its trade bottled up, cut off by neighbors afraid of a new strain of the coronavirus circulating in England.

Truck tonnage in November declined a seasonally adjusted 3.8%, marking the eighth consecutive month of year-over-year declines, American Trucking Associations said Dec. 22. However, the ATA For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 3.7% in November after falling 5% in October when measured month-to-month.

Container shipping, the backbone of the global trading system, is showing signs of fatigue as the pandemic descends into its darkest days.

WASHINGTON — Congress passed a $900 billion pandemic relief package Dec. 21 that would finally deliver long-sought cash to businesses and individuals and resources to vaccinate a nation confronting a frightening surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths.

Americans are putting aside health risks and flying in increasing numbers during the Christmas holiday season.

Trucking is entering a year of change as the industry confronts a new phase of the coronavirus pandemic and adjusts to new practices.

A federal advisory panel recommends that the next round of coronavirus vaccines be given to teachers, first responders, correction officers and grocery store employees, along with people 75 and over. Truckers and other transportation workers would fall into a group behind that group.

The House released the text of a massive 5,593-page package of legislation that combines pandemic relief with a bill to fund government operations just hours before lawmakers were set to cast their votes on Dec. 21.