The Highway Trust Fund will soon run out of money. Passing a new highway bill is critical not only to the trucking industry but to every shipper that relies on truck transportation and to America's competitiveness, says Randy Mullett, vice president of government relations and public affairs at Con-way Freight.

Several passenger and airfreight trade organizations have jointly condemned use of weapons against civil aviation.

JDA Software recently formed a new global 3PL business unit to focus on sales and product development for this market sector. Unit leader Peter van Merode discusses the strategy behind this move and shares views on the global 3PL market.

CarrierDirect works with many transportation and logistics companies to develop business strategies. President Joel Clum shares his bullish outlook on the U.S. domestic freight market and on the companies that he thinks are best positioned to take advantage of an improving market.

After spending a decade working with lean processes at Menlo Worldwide Logistics, Jeff Rivera is now leading the lean implementation at Con-way Freight, a major LTL company. He discusses the challenges and opportunities of Con-way's lean journey.

James Welch, CEO of YRC Worldwide, one of the largest LTL carriers, discusses his views on technology, pricing and other issues and challenges facing the industry.

XPO Logistics has grown dramatically, both organically and through acquisitions, including most recently those of Pacer and NLM. CEO Brad Jacobs talks about the integration of these companies and XPO's overall growth strategies.

The Stifel Logistics Confidence Index for July appears to mirror an uncertain economic environment. Since February of this year, the overall Index has increased one month and then declined the next reaching its high so far this year in May at 57.9. For the current month, the index is up 0.9 points over June to 56.1.