Police pull over two men riding an electric couch down the street
Transportationvia Electrek
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Electric scooters have carried just about everything at this point, from commuters and tourists to groceries and probably more than a few ill-advised passengers. But two riders in Charlotte, North Carolina, may have just raised the bar after police stopped them cruising down the street on an actual couch apparently powered by a pair of Lime electric scooters. more…
Electric scooters have carried just about everything at this point, from commuters and tourists to groceries and probably more than a few ill-advised passengers. But two riders in Charlotte, North Carolina, may have just raised the bar after police stopped them cruising down the street on an actual couch apparently powered by a pair of Lime electric scooters.
Despite decades of market dominance, it seems like the days of loud, finicky, gas-powered mowers may finally be behind us; and I say that because – for the second year in a row! – the highest-rated lawnmowers on Amazon won’t burn a drop of gas. more…
Borderlands Mexico is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week in Borderlands Mexico: Avocado imports generate $641M for US trucking, warehousing; GLS US expands parcel delivery network to Texas border market and Jetco expands heavy-haul operations to serve Gulf Coast industrial boom. Avocado imports generate $641M for US trucking, warehousing Mexican Hass avocado imports generated an estimated $641.5 million in U.S. transportation and warehousing activity and supported more than 4,150 jobs in fiscal year 2025-26. The findings by Texas A&M University researchers highlight the growing importance of cross-border trucking, refrigerated transportation and distribution networks connecting Mexican agricultural producers with U.S. consumers. The report, The U.S. Economic Contributions of Hass Avocado Imports from Mexico, was prepared by Gary W. Williams, an emeritus professor in Texas A&M’s Department of Agricultural Economics, and Dan Hanselka, an extension program specialist. Nearly 98% of Mexican avocados entering the U.S. in 2024 were transported by truck through Texas land ports, primarily through Pharr and Laredo. The analysis, released Wednesday by the Avocado Institute of Mexico, estimated that Mexican Hass avocado imports generated $7.1 billion in total U.S. economic output and supported 37,163 jobs across multiple industries during the fiscal year ending June 2026. Texas plays a central role in transporting Mexican avocados to U.S. markets. According to USDA data cited in the Texas A&M report, the Pharr border crossing handled approximately 58.2% of Mexican avocado imports in 2024, while Laredo accounted for another 39.4%. Once shipments clear the border, avocados move through an extensive network of trucking companies, refrigerated warehouses, wholesalers, distribution centers and food processors before reaching grocery stores, restaurants and other customers nationwide. The report found that avocado shipments generate additional economic activity through purchases of fuel, equipment, transportation services, repairs and other logistics-related services. The economic contributions extend beyond companies directly transporting the fruit, supporting businesses throughout interconnected supply chains. In Texas alone, an estimated $245.1 million in Mexican Hass avocado imports generated $428.9 million in economic output, contributed $265.5 million to the state’s gross domestic product and supported 2,402 jobs across industries. The study estimated that California, the nation’s largest avocado-consuming state, generated $968.2 million in economic output and supported 5,325 jobs associated with Mexican avocado imports. Together, Texas and California accounted for only 19% to 22% of the national economic contributions measured in the study, demonstrating how the supply chain extends throughout the country. The Texas A&M analysis also found that $3.2 billion in Mexican Hass avocado imports during fiscal year 2025/26 contributed an estimated $4.4 billion to U.S. GDP. The imports also supported $2.4 billion in labor income and generated approximately $1 billion in federal, state and local taxes. “This report demonstrates the value of a deeply integrated North American supply chain built over decades between Mexico and the U.S.,” said Ron Campbell, executive director of the Mexican Hass Avocado Import Association, in a statement. “Mexican avocados don’t simply cross the border, they generate economic activity throughout the U.S. economy, supporting transportation and distribution networks, retailers, restaurants and communities across the country.” GLS US expands parcel delivery network to Texas border market Regional parcel delivery provider GLS US has expanded its services into El Paso, Texas, strengthening its shipping network across the Western U.S and adding another market along the U.S.–Mexico border. The expansion, announced Oct. 20, gives businesses in West Texas access to first-, middle- and final-mile delivery services. The new location also can determine international shipping capabilities and parcel transportation for shipments weighing up to 150 pounds. El Paso is a major U.S.–Mexico trade gateway, supported by manufacturing, distribution and cross-border commerce with neighboring Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. GLS said its expanded network will serve manufacturers, distributors, retailers and e-commerce businesses seeking improved shipping connectivity throughout Texas and the Western U.S. The move into El Paso follows GLS US’s expansion into Houston, Austin and San Antonio earlier this year, after entering the Dallas-Fort Worth market in 2025. GLS US is part of GLS Group, a European parcel delivery company operating in more than 50 countries and handling more than 900 million parcels annually. Jetco expands heavy-haul operations to serve Gulf Coast boom Houston-based trucking and logistics provider Jetco has launched a specialized cargo division aimed at growing demand for heavy-haul transportation tied to data centers, power generation, manufacturing and infrastructure projects along the Gulf Coast. The division combines Jetco’s existing heavy-haul operations, established in 2008, with its expanding freight brokerage business to handle oversized, overweight and over-dimensional cargo. “Three years ago, we started positioning ourselves to capitalize on the accelerated growth of domestic power, manufacturing, and infrastructure, specifically data centers,” Jetco President Kyle Kristynik said in a statement. The company has added four specialized trailers this year, including two Faymonville multimax trailers capable of hauling 125,000 pounds each, a Goldhofer trailer rated for 180,000 pounds and a Fontaine hydraulic removable gooseneck trailer with a 55-ton capacity in a 16-foot footprint. Jetco said the division will combine its own trucks and trailers with prequalified third-party carriers to manage complex industrial shipments. The company also plans to collaborate with Canadian sister companies Precision Specialized and Scott Woods Transport to support specialized, heavy-haul and out-of-gauge freight movements. Jetco, which is part of Canadian transportation company The GTI Group, operates from its Houston headquarters and maintains facilities in Pasadena, Freeport and Dallas, Texas. Why it matters: The report “The U.S. Economic Contributions of Hass Avocado Imports from Mexico,” highlights how Mexican agricultural imports sustain U.S. trucking jobs, refrigerated distribution networks and freight activity far beyond the border. The post Borderlands Mexico: Avocado imports generate $641M for US trucking, warehousing appeared first on FreightWaves.
Europe’s ERTMS rollout continues to be hampered by rising costs, delays and fragmented responsibilities between infrastructure managers, operators and suppliers. Consultant Editor Chris Jackson says the central question is whether stronger leadership and co-ordination can turn a complex technical programme into a deliverable, network-wide business case. August 31 marked a milestone in the UK’s East Coast Digital Programme, when passenger trains began using a 24 km section of ETCS Level 2 between Welwyn and Hitchin. This overlay on the lineside signalling is envisaged as a stepping stone towards a more extensive ‘signals away’ roll-out, accelerating driver familiarisation and the use of more types of rolling stock. It was originally expected to be completed before April 2024, with the 160 km route from London to Peterborough going live by April 2029. Delays to ERTMS projects are nothing new, alas. Norway’s national rollout has been rephased several times, not least because of a shortage of resources for retrofitting the rolling stock, while the challenges of digital signalling are one of the factors behind the decision to put back Germany’s ambitious Stuttgart 21 programme to 2031 at the earliest. As we report on p23, the European Commission’s ERTMS Deployment Management Team has been looking into the factors that have been driving up the cost of trackside equipment, following a similar review of onboard costs last year. While the railway and suppliers associations may disagree with some of the report’s findings, all sides appear to accept that a major part of the problem has been the multiplicity of applications. In particular, early adopters sought to interface ETCS with their own signalling practices and operating rules determined by their legacy systems. Since being designated as the system authority, the EU Agency for Railways has been grappling with the challenge of consolidating the ever-changing specifications whilst paving the way for the addition of further functionality. More than half a century ago, a 1974 report to the British Railways Board explained that the International Union of Railways’ ORE A46 committee had ‘reached the point where a “system” for track to train communications is being proposed as an international standard. The system appears to be complex, not capable of any useful simplification.’ Further work by what became ERRI committee A200 on drafting the technical specifications led to the adoption of ERTMS as the centrepiece of interoperability across the Single European Railway Area. This month’s lead author Dr Frank Heibel pointed out when the ECDP overlay went live that it is the removal of lineside signals that really makes the business case for any cab signalling scheme, increasing capacity and performance, whilst reducing the cost of maintenance and renewals. However, that is entirely dependent on ensuring that every train which uses the line has been fitted with onboard equipment. ‘Fleet fitment is not a workstream running quietly alongside the infrastructure programme’, he emphasised. ‘On a signals-away project it is the critical path of the business case, and it deserves to be governed like one.’ Back in the heady days when ORE and ERRI were formulating their concepts, almost all railways around the world were vertically-integrated organisations. Thus the costs and benefits of moving train control from lineside to onboard would be an internal trade-off. That is one reason why the adoption of CBTC has been much more straightforward on standalone metros. However, the past three decades have seen vertical separation between the infrastructure managers and train operators, as well as the arrival of new entrants. While the competing operators of international services would clearly benefit from interoperability, the fragmentation of responsibility and the partitioning of costs and benefits have undoubtedly increased the challenge. The latest DMT report emphasises that ‘good project management for ERTMS deployment is key’ to an efficient rollout. But having the right overall governance is also critical. Earlier this year, Germany’s federal transport ministry announced that a national ERTMS Co-ordination Office would be established to manage the country’s lagging digitalisation of signalling and safety systems. One of its key tasks would be allocating funding for equipping the rolling stock. ECDP is another case in point. Oversight of the UK’s ERTMS rollout on the ECML and elsewhere is vested in the so-called Industry Partnership for Digital Railway. ‘Progress is monitored through project and programme boards which report, together with the stakeholder and industry groups, into the Digital Signalling Portfolio Progress Group, which includes representatives from Network Rail regions, Technical Authority and Route Services. The Portfolio Progress Group monitors delivery progress and benefit realisation against the portfolio’s masterplan to inform the Portfolio Direction Board’s decision-making.’ Quite. Luxembourg and Belgium have made better progress, thanks in part to having smaller networks. Nevertheless, as Infrabel’s then COO Jochen Bultinck explained, ‘managing such a large project implies facing a variety of difficulties, both technical and non-technical … we had to work with a large number of stakeholders’. The need for better co-ordination and governance has also been highlighted in the latest recommendations of the EU’s ERTMS Co-ordinator Matthias Ruete. However, it is not clear whether setting up more committees will actually drive things forward. Strong leadership is essential, but finding people with the right experience and giving them the remit to cut through the red tape will be far from straightforward. This article first appeared in the October 2026 issue of Railway Gazette International Read the issue
