In the face of a $20 million budget gap, the U.S. Postal Service has announced its second rate hike to take effect in 2014. The latest announcement, on Nov. 14, included shipping rates for its flat rate services. A retail flat rate, padded flat rate, and priority express legal flat rate envelopes will cost $19.99…
The Teamsters and the Independent Pilots Association have both thrown their support behind a new bill in Congress known as the Safe Skies Act of 2013. This bill would apply the same regulations governing rest periods to cargo pilots that are already in place for pilots of passenger planes. The bill would affect the pilots of…
American Airlines and US Airways are giving up 52 vested slots at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport as part of an agreement with the Department of Justice in order to get plans for their merger approved. Without buyers for these slots, some small and mid-sized airports around the country could lose flights into Washington National…
According to a new report by the Los Angeles Times, Amazon is blazing into the holiday season with a new option for its customers, Sunday deliveries. The deliveries are part of a joint effort with the United States Postal Service, which plans to use flexible worker schedules to cover the delivery routes instead of hiring…
As the United States and Canada gear up to transport record amounts of crude oil from fracking sites to refineries, and in turn, to consumers around North America, railroad companies and pipeline owners are in stiff competition for the business of handling these hauls. By the year 2014, the U.S. is expected to be producing…
Manufacturing jobs have come a long way in recent years. Technology has made the jobs less dangerous and labor intensive, and have allowed companies to do more production with fewer workers. However, skilled labor workers are an aging demographic, and younger workers simply aren’t interested in taking jobs in manufacturing. In fact, fewer young people…
On Thursday, October 31, Congressional Representatives Richard Hanna (a Republican from New York), Tom Rice (a Republican from South Carolina) and Mike Michaud (a Democrat from Maine) introduced the TRUE Safety Act, which would halt the new Hours of Service (HOS) regulations imposed on truckers beginning on July 1st of this year. According to the…
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is cracking down on lax medical examiners’ regulations in hopes of getting unsafe truck drivers and bus drivers off the road. Currently, almost any medical professional, including general practitioners, nurse practitioners, chiropractors, and others, can issue a medical certificate to truck drivers. The drivers only have to get…
The construction industry, including the builders of residential housing, commercial construction, and the sector of civil engineering, showed the strongest increase in new purchase orders since December of 2007, according to the Markit/CIPS Purchasing Manager’s Index. The index stood at 59.4 for the month of October, following a peak of 58.9 for September. An index…
In the aftermath of the Rana Plaza collapse, which killed more than 1,200 garment factory workers and injured hundreds more, clothing retailers in the United States, Europe, and other developed countries are trying to find ways to get feedback directly from workers regarding their working conditions, pay, and general treatment.