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Last week, we cheered the apparent demise of a federal regulatory provision regarding hours of service. Now we’d like to salute a positive development: a recent discussion on truck safety before a Senate subcommittee.

Conference halls from coast to coast were teeming with talk of transportation last week, with no shortage of prognostications from industry leaders about what the future holds.

We’ve all heard the saying, “You have to spend money to make money.” A recent announcement from Amazon.com indicates that it is willing to invest heavily to expand its in-house delivery capabilities and boost its e-commerce business.

President Trump is charting a new course for the nation. We don’t know where it will ultimately lead us, but during his short tenure the business community has been served notice that things are changing.

Please take a moment to note and appreciate something that doesn’t happen nearly often enough. Twenty of our fellow citizens are being lauded with national attention for devotion to their industry, working hard and carefully on a consistent basis over time, in a way that helps to make for a smoothly running society.

In putting this issue together, we didn’t know whether to oooh and ahhh like children watching a Harry Potter movie or reach for antacids like baby boomers with heartburn. Engineers are weaving computer capability into vehicles in a way that seems like wizardry coming soon, while this year’s freight market continues to offer disappointment with no signs of yielding.

To readers of Transport Topics, the plight of the industry’s truck drivers is well-known. It requires a unique commitment to be away from home and travel over congested highways while complying with more and more regulatory demands.

No quiet end to summer this year. Original equipment manufacturer executives have not been lounging poolside.

By the time you read this, a new grand champion will have been crowned at the National Truck Driving Championships in Indianapolis.

We are usually big fans of bipartisan cooperation. Democrats and Republicans should proclaim their ideals and preferences with clarity — especially during election campaigns — but after citizens vote there comes a time to get to work and start solving problems.