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WASHINGTON — The looming mainstream deployment of autonomous cars and trucks around the country has the potential to improve traffic safety while reducing congestion along key freight corridors and metropolitan regions, senators on a transportation committee said June 13.

Every season now seems like peak season for Leonard Wright, who’s constantly recruiting drivers to staff his INPAX Shipping Solutions.

While senators wait for Republican leaders to schedule a vote on an autonomous vehicles bill, a Senate committee will examine the potential impact allowing such vehicles could have on the country’s surface infrastructure.

Daimler Trucks North America introduced two new connectivity services into its Detroit Connect portfolio, Detroit Connect Direct and a wireless in-cab device connection.

Nikola Motor Co. is starting the hiring process to staff its new Arizona research and development center, slated to open in November.

Allison Transmission Inc. has partnered with multiple North American telematics service providers to deliver transmission-health information by year-end.

Electric car maker Tesla Inc. is laying off about 3,600 workers mainly from its salaried ranks as it slashes costs in an effort to deliver on CEO Elon Musk’s promise to turn a profit in the second half of the year.

A three-year, $5.9 million study in central Ohio will use drones to monitor traffic on a 35-mile highway, and provide new information used to prevent crashes between manned and unmanned aircraft.

In an abandoned lot on the outskirts of Sacramento, Calif., R1, a domed gray vehicle half the size of a Toyota Corolla, is practicing driving itself. It stops at stop signs, yields to people, and handles sharp turns, as other self-driving vehicles do on test courses in Silicon Valley, Detroit, and China.

The U.S. trucking industry is continuing to adjust to the federal electronic logging device mandate that took effect late last year.