������ý

For all of the hysteria pundits have heaped on Washington in recent weeks, the current state of affairs really isn't abnormal. Here's a look ahead to the week for trucking on Capitol Hill.

The future of rail transportation literally may be up in the air. Entrepreneurs and engineers from around the world have proposed radical concepts for hauling freight and passengers, including a multistory flying train, a supersized blimp and super-high-speed trains.

Daimler AG is developing an autonomous electric vehicle that can toggle between a people carrier and a delivery van as the German manufacturer seeks an edge over rivals such as Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo and Deutsche Post AG in shaping the future of mobility.

Bryan Berg drives a semi with a 13-speed transmission, and he’s been double-clutching and shifting gears in his rig for 30 years. He’s not about to start driving a truck that shifts automatically.

Florida posted the biggest surge among states in the use of heavy-duty trucks with clean diesel engines in 2017, notching an 81% jump compared with a year earlier, according to data from IHS Markit. This increase came as fleet confidence in the technology took hold and more freight-hauling opportunities opened up in the nation’s fourth-largest state economy, other experts said.

While asset-tracking devices are finding increased adoption with intermodal container fleets, uptake for that venerable old workhorse of the intermodal supply chain — the chassis — faces different challenges.

While intermodal may be playing catch-up in the real-time freight visibility race, the consensus among industry watchers is that the gap is closing — fast. You can thank the Internet of Things revolution and the emergence of “in the cloud” software and database platforms.

Google’s Waymo, Uber and carmakers GM and Mercedes-Benz are among the companies working to put driverless vehicles in showrooms. That competition also should help lower prices that can reach $75,000 apiece for the sensors that scan a car’s surrounding environment so it knows how to drive itself.

Daimler AG is equipping its flagship Mercedes-Benz truck with technology that can take the wheel in situations ranging from stop-and-go city driving to highway cruising.

Citing a persistent increase in the number of vehicle-train collisions at highway-rail grade crossings in recent years, the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General has informed the Federal Railroad Administration that it is conducting an audit of the agency’s incident data.