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Shippers can expect to pay more to secure freight-hauling capacity as truck and rail carriers raise rates to cover rising costs and to fund investments in equipment and infrastructure, according to transportation and logistics executives.

Top executives and industry experts plan to explore ways business leaders and government officials can work to relieve congestion along the country’s aging transportation network during a panel discussion Oct. 4-7 at American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & Exhibition in San Diego.

Officials of trucking-management software vendor TMW Systems Inc. last week outlined steps the company is taking to smooth internal operations and user experiences, and several of its associated plug-in partners announced new integrations with TMW products.

The top organizations representing the freight industry and state transportation officials again urged Congress to reject efforts by a small group of conservatives looking to diminish vast federal funding for big-ticket transportation projects.

The long-overlooked intermodal trucker took center stage last week as some industry officials insisted that shippers, railroads and other participants must treat them better, while others assessed growing threats to the traditional owner-operator structure.

Class 8 truck sales leaped 28.4% in August from a year ago to 19,627, the biggest percentage gain in two years, WardsAuto.com reported.

Con-way Freight workers in Laredo, Texas, have become the first workers at the less-than-truckload carrier to be represented by a union, and additional Teamsters organizing efforts are advancing at three of the carrier’s Southern California terminals.