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U.S. companies in December added the most jobs in seven months, indicating that more Americans are returning to the labor force and helping employers to fill a near-record number of open positions.

Electric trucks promise many potential rewards for the freight transportation industry. But the experiences of fleets that have begun to deploy these vehicles illustrate an elaborate set of challenges and considerations associated with electrification.

A measure of U.S. manufacturing fell short of expectations at the end of 2021, reflecting declines in gauges of delivery times and prices that belie an otherwise solid demand picture.

The U.S. merchandise-trade deficit widened to a record in November as imports surged to an all-time high. The gap increased to $97.8 billion last month from a revised $83.2 billion in October, according to Commerce Department data released Dec. 29.

The year ahead promises to be a busy one for the equipment sector, as key trends such as used truck pricing and availability, parts sales, freight rates, truck electrification and new, more robust engine oils intermingle with challenging supply and demand conditions — including rising costs for raw materials — that are affecting orders for new trucks and trailers.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is scheduled to deliver keynote remarks at the upcoming annual conference of the Transportation Research Board, which will be held Jan. 9-13.

The national average price for a gallon of diesel continued on its downward trend as the end of the year approaches, dropping another 1.1 cents to $3.615 in the Dec. 27 weekly report provided by the Energy Information Administration.

The implementation of last year’s $1 trillion infrastructure law, national elections in the fall and ongoing concerns regarding supply chain challenges and the omicron coronavirus variant will be front-and-center for policymakers heading into 2022.

At the Port of Tacoma, leaders hope a new project to build added storage capacity for containers will help operations run more smoothly as ports across the West Coast are now facing a surge with activity resuming.