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President Donald Trump said he will sign the first phase of a trade deal with China on Jan. 15, sealing an agreement that sees the Asian nation raising purchases of American farm goods in exchange for lower tariffs on some of its products. The date has yet to be confirmed by the Chinese side.

With the threat of an impeachment trial looming in 2020, the Trump White House challenged congressional leaders to instead shift their focus to issues confronting the country in the year ahead — including some that matter a great deal to the trucking industry.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has issued a request for information to help craft a National Freight Strategic Plan.

A federal judge in the Southern District Court of California on Dec. 31 issued a temporary restraining order against the implementation of California’s Assembly Bill 5, as it pertains to the trucking industry.

The U.S. average retail price of a gallon of diesel rose 2.8 cents to $3.069 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported Dec. 30.

The White House’s leading China hawk, trade adviser Peter Navarro, said Dec. 30 that a preliminary trade deal with Beijing is completed.

Years of planning and preparation by the ocean shipping, oil and trucking industries are set to pay off as adequate supplies of diesel fuel are expected to be ready now that an International Maritime Organization mandate for the use of lower polluting fuel on ocean vessels is about to take effect.

Oil rose for a fifth session, the longest run of gains since July, as a bigger-than-forecast decline in U.S. crude stockpiles eased oversupply concerns.

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Dec. 27 unveiled prototypes of a domestically produced electric car, putting him closer to fulfilling a long-held dream of building Turkey’s first “national” automobile.

FRANKFURT, Germany — Automaker Volkswagen is accelerating its move into battery-powered cars, saying it will reach its goal of 1 million electric cars per year two years earlier than planned.