ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø

With an eye toward the future of transportation technology, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan released the state’s Connected and Automated Vehicle Strategic Framework.

The memory of 2020 will be forever linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here are the 10 most-read stories on the Transports Topics website in 2020, based on Google Analytics. Unsurprisingly, COVID-19 dominated the headlines.

Trucking emerged from one of the most challenging years on record strong and battle-tested, as robust freight demand propelled by soaring demand for consumer goods amid the coronavirus pandemic boosted spot rates and lifted financial results for many publicly traded fleets.

The first hiccups in the distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S. included a holdup in delivering 3,900 shots to two states and the announcement that Pfizer Inc. would deliver almost a million fewer doses next week than are set to ship this week.

The challenge of ensuring equitable distribution of the coronavirus vaccine is one of global scale, and the city of Miami provides a backdrop for the social and economic divides that the medical community must overcome.

As the first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine begin to ship, trucking experts on the ground level of the distribution effort said the logistical elements are in place for a successful rollout of an estimated 50 million doses of the vaccine between now and the end of January.

For the trucking and logistics industry, the challenges of COVID-19 vaccine distribution are just beginning. Hundreds of millions of doses will need to be shipped around the world and in the United States, and the process is just now getting underway.

Governors should assess their capacity for transportation and address logistical issues as early as possible as they brace for COVID-19 vaccine distribution, according to the National Governors Association.

Two of the country’s largest freight firms reassured federal lawmakers of their preparedness in helping to deliver COVID-19 vaccines as early as this month.