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Several U.S. senators have criticized the Obama administration’s plan to use $4 billion to create a new national infrastructure bank to help finance transportation projects, questioning how the bank would operate and whether rural projects would lose funding to larger urban areas.

Canadian transportation firm Mullen Group said its fourth-quarter profit grew 56.3% to C$11.1 million or 14 cents per share, from C$7.1 million, or 9 cents per share, a year ago.

The final rule for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners is expected late this summer and is causing concern about rising prices and availability among drivers and motor carriers.

Dupré Logistics created a partnership with GreenRoad, a driver behavioral analysis firm, to enhance the logistics operator’s safety program.

The transportation and logistics industries must do a better job of recruiting employees and upgrading the skills of current workers to meet the increasing needs of shippers, said several leaders in those industries.

Transportation and third-party logistics firm Pacer International said its fourth-quarter profit grew to $10 million, or 10 cents per share, compared with a $64 million loss, or $1.83 cents, a year earlier.

The Obama administration last week proposed a $4 billion “down payment” on a national infrastructure bank to supplement traditional highway funding, as part of its $78.8 billion budget proposal for the Department of Transportation.

We almost made it through 2009 without another national news exposé of the trucking industry, but then came November and December. This time, the focus was on truck driver training and motor carrier employment practices.

Transportation and third-party logistics firm C.H. Robinson Worldwide reported a fourth-quarter profit of $87.7 million, or 52 cents a share, down slightly from $88.9 million, or 52 cents a share, a year ago.