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DALLAS — Higher operating costs, more volatile market cycles and a shift from West Coast ports are characteristics of the post-pandemic freight market, according to an industry analyst.

Norfolk Southern Corp. agreed to acquire Cincinnati Southern Railway, tightening the company’s grip on a critical 337-mile line it already operates under a lease agreement.

The nation’s major shipping companies are in the best shape to get holiday shoppers’ packages delivered on time since the start of the pandemic, suggesting a return to normalcy.

The possibility of a nationwide freight rail strike beginning as early as Dec. 9 moved one step closer when the union SMART-TD, one of the largest in contract talks with the six Class I freight carriers, turned down a tentative agreement negotiated in mid-September by Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and other officials.

Clarus Solutions' Blake Baumann: "One solution to help ease some pressure in the trucking industry may lie in pursuing government tax incentive programs, such as the Work Opportunity Tax Credit."

A federal judge has ordered Amazon to stop retaliating against employees engaged in workplace activism, issuing a mixed ruling that also hands a loss to the federal labor agency that sued the company earlier this year.

DALLAS — Hidden GPS trackers installed with freight loads and mobile apps that transmit trip details to carriers are being deployed to deter a rise in fake businesses, stolen company identities and scam purchase orders that aim to help thieves steal cargo, experts said.

West Virginia is demolishing two travel plazas along its turnpike to create modern ones, adding a total of 45 new truck parking places, announced Gov. Jim Justice.

Legislation targeting the theft and trafficking of catalytic converters was recently introduced in the U.S. Senate.

The trucking and logistics industries could be headed for another year-end boost in merger and acquisition activity.