COVID-19 relief

Port expansion included in giant federal spending package

President Donald Trump is expected to sign on Tuesday a massive relief and federal spending package passed by Congress late Monday that authorizes major port expansion projects and opens $1 billion in funds for harbor maintenance dredging.

The port funding legislation, the biennial Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), was part of a $1.4 trillion fiscal year 2021 appropriations omnibus bill that also contains $900 billion in emergency COVID-19 relief and program funding for the U.S. Department...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/port-expansion-included-in-giant-federal-spending-package

Greater focus on life sciences transport as vaccine nears release

As anticipation grows for the distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine, supply chains around the world are gearing up for the challenge. Transporting bio-pharmaceutical products, however, requires the incorporation of temperature-controlled equipment suitable for the safe hauling of vaccines and other biologic materials.

Bill Freidel, AIT Worldwide Logistics’ director of life sciences, explained that finding the right equipment can often be a challenge for carriers in support of their life sciences...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/greater-focus-on-life-sciences-transport-as-vaccine-nears-release

Big business bullish on infrastructure in 2021

America’s big-business lobby considers the biggest priority for the new Congress and the incoming Biden administration in 2021 is to build back economic losses sustained by the COVID-19 pandemic with major infrastructure legislation.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is backing two Republican incumbent U.S. senators in Georgia who, if successful in runoff elections on Jan. 5, will allow Republicans to maintain control of the Senate. But the resulting divided legislature — Democrats maintained control...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/big-business-bullish-on-infrastructure-in-2021

House committee slams airline contractors for layoffs after COVID aid

A ramp workers guides equipment preparing a plane for its next flight on a bright sunny day.

Four aviation services companies that took $595 million in federal wage offsets as part of an emergency coronavirus stimulus package last spring have committed to retain all current employees after several were reprimanded by a House investigative committee for violating terms of the aid.

The four ground handling agents — Menzies Aviation, DAL Global Services, Sky Chefs and Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) — employ more than 30,000 people in the U.S. Three other airport service providers —...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/house-committee-slams-airline-contractors-for-layoffs-after-covid-aid

FMC extends coronavirus-related service contract filing flexibility

Federal Maritime Commission

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) on Thursday afternoon voted to extend an order that allows service contracts to be filed up to 30 days after they take effect to provide relief to shippers, freight forwarders and consolidators, and ocean container carriers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The initial order, which the FMC approved on April 27, had been scheduled to expire Dec. 31. However, the commission approval of the order’s extension will provide the ocean container shipping...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/fmc-extends-coronavirus-related-service-contract-filing-flexibility

American Airlines to chop 19,000 jobs amid travel slump

A silver American Airlines plane with red, white and blue striped tail rolls down taxiway. American plans to cut 19,000 jobs.

American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL) notified employees in a memo Tuesday that it plans to eliminate 19,000 jobs on Oct. 1, unless Congress renews the emergency coronavirus assistance that helped airlines retain staff for the past six months.

The news comes a day after Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) indicated involuntary separations are coming for 1,941 pilots, according to Reuters.

Airlines, struggling to survive, are transforming into much smaller organizations with passenger travel not expected to...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/american-airlines-to-chop-19000-jobs

Owner-operators seek one-year suspension of heavy vehicle tax

Small-business truckers are countering a tax proposal by their big-business counterparts with one of their own: Suspend the heavy vehicle use tax (HVUT) — a better way to provide relief to the industry than suspending the federal excise tax (FET), they contend.

In a Thursday letter to congressional leaders, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) argued that a one-year suspension of the HVUT — an annual fee that costs about $550 per truck — would help every trucking business,...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/owner-operators-seek-one-year-suspension-of-heavy-vehicle-tax

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