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No matter your place on the political spectrum, it is undeniable passage of the Republican-led tax reform measure was a monumental feat. This week we highlight our favorite news items from Capitol Agenda in 2017.

Another fleet of mining trucks will join the growing ranks of machines operating autonomously using Caterpillar Inc. systems in Australia next year, reflecting the company’s push to cement industry partnerships with proprietary technology.

>Deliveries by drones took a step closer to being allowed in the U.S. after a federal advisory panel agreed on a framework for allowing law enforcement to routinely track the small devices.

2017 was a year of anticipation for the freight transportation industry, leading up to the long-awaited Dec. 18 mandate for broad adoption of electronic logging devices to track hours of service.

ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello (right) looks back on the 2017 year in trucking, calling it a "transition year" and expecting better things ahead for 2018. His interview with TT's Joe Howard is part of our Dec. 13 LiveOnWeb program, "2017 Year in Review."

The General Services Administration is conducting rock blasting along Interstate 81 in upstate New York to clear room for a new border inspection facility with enough capacity to process trucks.

Golden, Colo., residents could see the unwrapping of a new package delivery system right in the middle of this year’s holiday gift-giving frenzy, with UPS Inc. drivers swapping out their trademark brown trucks for golf carts with trailers.

Fort Lauderdale, Fla., will soon become the first city in the state to use electric tricycles to deliver packages to businesses and homes, according to UPS Inc. and city officials.

The dilapidated stretch of Interstate 95, or the Turnpike, along Newark’s metropolitan region in beautiful New Jersey needs to be repaired soon, and raising federal taxes on fuel is the way to go about it, Rep. Donald Payne Jr. said amid Congress’ debate on tax policy. A look at the week ahead for trucking on Capitol Hill.

Those boxes piling up on your doorstep over the holidays don’t ship from Santa’s workshop. As Americans spend more money shopping online, real estate developers are sinking record amounts of money into new warehouse space, building bigger, taller structures to meet the needs of e-commerce — and the robots that help it along.