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Busy storefronts and an inflation pickup show the world’s largest economy is starting 2017 much the same way it ended 2016: driven by the consumer.

WASHINGTON — The country's freight transportation network must be modernized and expanded to handle the projected increase in freight volume, Schneider International Inc.'s top executive told a Senate panel Feb. 15.

Since Scott Moscrip founded Internet Truckstop in his basement 22 years ago, the company that became Truckstop.com has grown quietly. Its lack of heraldry is partially deliberate, CEO Paris Cole says, but toiling in little New Plymouth, Idaho, a town of 1,513, doesn’t draw much attention, either.

Trucks delivering heating fuels in New Hampshire have been declared exempt from hours of service rules by the state’s Department of Safety because of extremely cold weather that followed a series of major snowstorms. The exemption went into effect Feb. 13 and is effective until midnight Feb. 27.

The risk of damage to the Oroville Dam in Northern California not only forced the evacuation of more than 100,000 people but also has caused road closures that are affecting freight movement in the nation’s most populous state.

The new freight grants program at the U.S. Department of Transportation needs additional funding from Congress and greater transparency, the Eno Center for Transportation indicated in a new report.

Oklahoma and Alaska are about as red as states can be. Oklahoma has only elected Republicans to the Senate going back to 1994. Republican Don Young has been Alaska’s only congressman since 1973. However, both states are considering raising fuel-tax rates for the first time since the 1980s.

Plans for a trucking facility in Palmer Township, Pennsylvania, no longer include a school for new drivers.

Two congressional hearings this month called into question the potential benefits of private capital in advancing infrastructure projects. Here's the week ahead for trucking on Capitol Hill.