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LONG BEACH, Calif. — Truckload executives predict business conditions in 2018 will be robust due to the electronic logging device mandate and that intermodal could benefit from a trickle-down effect, they said during the annual Intermodal Association of North America’s Intermodal Expo here.

Elected officials received a status update on an inland port and intermodal project on the Arkansas River at the Port of Van Buren.

Great Lakes Basin Transportation entered its response July 31 to opposition groups’ arguments that its application to build a 271-mile freight railroad from northwest Indiana to southeast Wisconsin should be rejected.

XPO Logistics has hired Christopher Synek as president of transportation in North America, running the brokerage, expedited trucking, intermodal marketing, drayage and global forwarding businesses.

Fewer shippers moved their freight from truckload to intermodal in the second quarter, but a shift could occur with the December electronic logging mandate, according to two surveys.

Intermodal rail and trucking companies are competing to meet the transportation needs of e-commerce businesses while adapting to how these new supply chains differ from those of traditional brick-and-mortar retailers.

Intermodal traffic rose 2% in the first quarter, largely stemming from container and trailer volumes, a signal that a rebound is underway from the doldrums of 2016.

Will County will receive a $750,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation to create a comprehensive freight mobility study with a goal of making intermodal transportation safer and more efficient, officials said.

Intermodal rail traffic grew slightly in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to reverse a 2.1% decline in total volume for 2016, according to the Intermodal Association of North America.