Transport on CrossGov.com

FMCSA's Non-Domiciled CDL Rule Will Push Out About 194,000 Truckers as California's $160 Million Penalty Goes to Court

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s rule on non-domiciled commercial driver’s licences has been in force since 16 March. It ends eligibility for about 194,000 current holders as their licences come up for renewal.

Two appeals cases heard in September will test it. On 11 September the DC Circuit heard California’s challenge to the Transportation Department’s decision to withhold about $160 million of its highway money. On 15 September the same court heard the challenge to the rule itself. Neither has ruled.

Surface Transportation Board Puts Union Pacific's $85 Billion Norfolk Southern Takeover Through Its First Test Under the 2001 Merger Rules

Sat, 10 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Surface Transportation Board, the federal agency that regulates freight railroads, is reviewing Union Pacific’s $85 billion takeover of Norfolk Southern. Its final decision is due by 28 August 2027.

The deal would join Union Pacific, one of the two big railroads in the West, with Norfolk Southern, one of the two in the East, and create the first single-company transcontinental railroad in the US: more than 50,000 route miles in 43 states. Shareholders of both companies approved it in November 2025 by more than 99%. The board now has to decide whether it’s in the public interest, and it’s using a standard no railroad merger has faced before.

Highway Trust Fund Runs Dry in 2028, CBO Says, as the House's $580 Billion Highway Bill Stalls Short of the Floor

Fri, 09 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

CBO projects the Highway Trust Fund’s highway account will run out of money in fiscal 2028 and its transit account in 2027. Congress hasn’t passed a bill to replace the 2021 infrastructure law, which expired on 30 September.

Federal highway and transit programmes are running on the stopgap signed on 2 September, Public Law 119-103, which also funds the government. It extends trust fund programmes to 11 December at prorated 2026 levels. It doesn’t continue the infrastructure law’s advance appropriations, the extra general fund money that sat on top of the trust fund. The National League of Cities puts the cut at $36.8 billion, spread across BUILD grants, Safe Streets and Roads for All, the bridge formula programme, rail grants and others, 35 programmes in all, which lost that money on 1 October. The effect on transit agencies is covered in our post on transit fiscal cliffs.

FAA Air Traffic Control Overhaul Asks Congress for $30 Billion More as GAO Finds No Reliable Cost Estimate

Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Transportation Department wants another $30 billion from Congress to finish rebuilding US air traffic control, on top of the $12.5 billion it got in July 2025. GAO says the FAA still can’t show what the whole job will cost.

Secretary Sean Duffy made the request on 28 September at Reagan National Airport, the site of the January 2025 midair collision that killed 67 people and set off the push. The same day Senator Eric Schmitt introduced the Modern Skies Act to provide the money. In December 2025 the department put the figure at $20 billion. The White House’s fiscal 2027 budget didn’t ask for it through regular appropriations. Duffy has said he’d rather get it through reconciliation.