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It was crucial for commercial vehicle suppliers to be identified as essential while they tried to find their way through COVID-19 when it first spread a year ago and deepened afterward, an executive with a leading supplier trade group said.

Logistics companies that diversified, were nimble and leveraged data-driven technologies had the best chance to continue operating throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

“It was definitely a strange year for inspectors,” said Kerri Wirachowsky, director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s roadside inspection program. “In the beginning of the pandemic, a lot of agencies just stopped doing inspections completely, only stopping vehicles if they saw an imminent issue,” she said.

American Trucking Associations President Chris Spear acknowledged the adversity the industry faced during the historic year.

American Association of Port Authorities CEO Chris Connor told Transport Topics the biggest takeaway from the coronavirus pandemic is the essential nature of ports.

Victoria Sheehan, president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, said technology made an important difference in state transportation departments’ pandemic operations.

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. agreed to buy Kansas City Southern for $25 billion, seeking to create a 20,000-mile rail network linking the U.S., Mexico and Canada in the first year of those nations’ new trade alliance.

Renesas Electronics Corp., one of the biggest makers of automotive chips, said a fire halted production at one of its Japanese plants. The incident may exacerbate a shortage of semiconductors that has already curbed vehicle output across the industry.

Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is scheduled to appear before the U.S. House transportation panel March 25.

Yokohama Tire Corp.’s websites for commercial and consumer customers were redesigned to enhance customer experience, the company announced March 17.