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WASHINGTON — Shaken by haunting images of surging rivers, flooded roads and subways and other damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida, lawmakers from both parties are vowing to upgrade the nation’s aging infrastructure network.

For decades, the trucking industry’s use of independent owner-operators has been a delicate, but successful, dance between the business and personal needs of motor carriers and contractors. Now, the contractor model’s future is in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court.

State and local governments shed employees in August, underscoring the impact of the latest surge in U.S. coronavirus infections and the cautious approach municipalities have been taking with their windfall from federal aid.

Freight movement is a priority outlined in the Maryland Department of Transportation’s recently released draft of its six-year capital budget.

ExxonMobil Corp. is tapping the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to revive gasoline production in Louisiana after Hurricane Ida left much of the devastated state’s refining and oil production offline.

BATON ROUGE, La. — A critical port that serves as the primary support hub for the Gulf of Mexico’s deepwater offshore oil and gas industry sustained less damage from Hurricane Ida’s direct hit than initially feared and should be back to working operations “in the near future,” a port leader said Sept. 2.

WASHINGTON — America’s employers added just 235,000 jobs in August, a surprisingly weak gain after two months of robust hiring at a time when the delta variant’s spread has discouraged some people from flying, shopping and eating out.

Sen. Joe Manchin is demanding a “strategic pause” in action on President Joe Biden’s economic agenda, potentially imperiling the $3.5 trillion tax and spending package that Democratic leaders plan to push through Congress this fall.

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed slightly to $70.1 billion in July as economic recovery overseas helped boost American exports while imports declined.