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BNSF Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway say they are steadily reducing a backlog of grain shipments, but agricultural shippers warn the true test of whether they can handle the upcoming harvest will come quickly, in a week or two.

Company by company, truck by truck, motor carrier bankruptcies threaten to sap freight capacity from an already tight truckload shipping market in the U.S. as freight demand rises.

As trucks travel interstate highways, onboard sensors are collecting, sending and receiving information, with the lion’s share going to and coming from a fleet management system. But as technology advances, the truck is being knit into a broader, more open network.

Drug Transport, a 55-year-old trucking company also known as DTI, is joining the growing list of smaller carriers filing for bankruptcy protection as trucking costs rise in the U.S.

As global demand for refrigerated transport service rises, Ryder Europe is adding more temperature-controlled trailers to its rental fleet in the United Kingdom.

Although freight volumes and expenditures in the U.S. are beginning to see seasonal drops, numbers still remain higher than last year’s tallies.

Some large truckload carriers expanded their fleets in the second quarter, but overall capacity remains tight.

After years of talking about the need to increase chronically low pay to attract and keep more truck drivers, trucking companies are beginning to put money on the table.

A First Nation group has suspended its plan to stop Canadian National Railway from operating a line connecting the Port of Prince Rupert to the rest of the railroad’s network until Aug. 25.

Despite the loss of a refrigerated rail pioneer, other operators say they are still growing and that they’re better shielded from poor rail performance than Cold Train was.

In a bid to recruit and keep more truck drivers, Con-way Truckload will raise per-mile pay, increase layover pay and offer more incentives to drivers that stay behind the wheel.

WASHINGTON — Congressional pressure is mounting on BNSF Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway to get rid of a backlog of U.S. grain shipments before the harvest arrives this fall.

Roadrunner Transportation has entered into a definitive deal to acquire Active Aero Group for $115 million.

Many U.S. Midwest grain exporters have little reason to be optimistic that they’ll get their products to market on-time or for a price that will make shipping to Asia economically feasible.

Inland 40-foot container capacity was at a premium in the United States in the first half of 2014, although space is becoming more available as the second half advances.

Cold Train, a provider of refrigerated intermodal transport from Washington state throughout the rest of the country, has ended service, citing poor BNSF Railway performance.

Growing optimism about the strength of the U.S. economy, freight demand and their ability to raise rates has more trucking companies thinking expansion. But tight profit margins, rising operating costs and a shortage of truck drivers are likely to check potential growth.

Canadian National Railway services connecting the Port of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, to the rest of its network are running normally even though a First Nation group told the railroad to end operations by Aug. 4.

A trailer full of canned corn proved one stolen load too many for a gang of freight thieves that operated throughout the U.S. Midwest. In federal court in Missouri, two of the cargo thieves pleaded guilty to running a cargo theft ring that pulled off the corn heist in West Plains, Missouri.

“Smart mobility” technology aimed at helping truckers avoid lengthy weigh station delays promises cost-saving benefits that could extend up supply chains to shippers.

Clean Energy Fuels is expanding its U.S. natural gas network.

Some U.S. states aren’t waiting for federal rules but are increasing inspection and enforcement actions related to temperature-controlled transport on their own.

Automotive demand, increasingly global in nature, is keeping Universal Truckload Services busy.

An announcement last week that a Chinese consortium would build a rail line connecting a planned port on Mexico’s Pacific Coast to a manufacturing hub along the U.S. border was heavy on fanfare but short on details.

ArcBest’s net profit tripled year-over-year to $17.2 million as revenue rose 14 percent to $658.6 million in the second quarter.

North American intermodal volume growth this year appears to be on track to exceed the 4.6 percent gain seen in 2013 after traffic rocketed 8.2 percent year-over-year in the second quarter.

Declining operating standards across Europe’s rail network are threatening the future of intermodal transport, a leading combined transport company warned.

At times, there can be such a thing as too much freight. When total shipments per day at YRC Freight rose 4.8 percent in the second quarter, and freight tonnage was up 5.9 percent year-over-year, the increase meant more hiring, more handling and higher operating costs.

The first half of 2014 saw the start of several stories that JOC.com will most likely be covering for the next year and perhaps beyond.

The strength of the 2014 economic recovery isn’t being questioned at Old Dominion Freight Line and Saia, two of the most profitable U.S. less-than-truckload carriers.

The strengthening U.S. economy, a second-quarter surge in freight and higher rates boosted revenue and profit at Con-way’s less-than-truckload, logistics and truckload divisions.

Roadrunner Transportation Systems reaped the benefits of an aggressive acquisition strategy in the second quarter, as truckload revenue soared year-over-year. Robust truckload and brokerage revenue helped compensate for weaker growth in less-than-truckload sales.

Over-the-road shippers worried about peak-season capacity this fall need to focus on the front of the truck, not the back. There will be trailers available ready to receive freight, and enough trucks to pull them. What may be missing is the key ingredient in truck capacity: the driver.

More shippers contracting with C.H. Robinson Worldwide shifted loads from railroad to highway in the second quarter after seeing intermodal rail service deteriorate.

XPO Logistics will add more than half a billion dollars in revenue to its top line by acquiring New Breed Logistics for approximately $615 million.

Fresh from acquiring U.S. truckload carrier Transport America, Canadian trucking giant TransForce is offering nearly C$500 million for Contrans, a publicly owned Woodstock, Ontario-based holding company specializing in bulk, flatbed, and tank trucking.

Union Pacific management hopes that the company’s grab of rail business from its main competitor, BNSF, will translate into more long-term business for UP in the future.

After five years leading a broad and often controversial effort to reshape federal truck safety regulation, Anne S. Ferro is leaving the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Swift Transportation, the largest U.S. truckload operator, got even bigger in the second quarter, but potential growth was restrained, the company said, by a “challenging driver market.”

Rail and truck shippers in North America continue to face constricted capacity and rising costs and the situation will most likely continue through the remainder of the year.