Articles by Thomas Black

Railroad Industry Being Left Behind in Drive to Autonomous Transportation

Peter Mills sees an inconsistency. One arm of the U.S. Department of Transportation is recommending two-person crews be required for freight trains as another plans to spend billions to help develop driverless technology for long-haul trucks. “Anything that tilts the …

Women Truckers Outperform Men; More Recruited to Ease Labor Shortage

Female truckers are sliding into long-haul cabs as companies seek to end a U.S. driver shortage, and they’re proving to be better behind the wheel than men. That’s no surprise to Stephanie Klang, 57, who used to drive in a …

What Supreme Court’s Head Scarf Ruling Means for Employers

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Abercrombie & Fitch Co. can be sued for denying employment to a woman wearing a head scarf will compel companies large and small to brush up on the nuances of bias and do more …

Single Engineer for Trains a Tough Sell Following Amtrak Crash

The Amtrak crash that killed eight people this month raised questions of the safety of one-engineer trains, thwarting the idea of reducing freight crews for now, Union Pacific Corp. Chief Executive Officer Lance Fritz said. While cargo operators would save …

Beyond Cars and Drones, Google Sees Pilotless Airlines

The chief of Google Inc.’s experimental cargo-drone program wants to see automated flight go beyond pilotless planes and extend to commercial air travel. Just as automation has proved its worth in factories by removing tedious work from employees’ hands, flying …

Corporations Push for Fewer U.S. Drone Restrictions

As U.S. regulators study how to govern commercial drones, corporate America is plunging ahead on using unmanned aircraft in a bid to speed the process and win concessions on proposed restrictions. Large companies including American International Group Inc., Chevron Corp. …

Virgin Galactic Spaceship Crashes; Co-Pilot Reported Dead

A spacecraft for Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic Ltd. tourism operator crashed during a test flight in California’s Mojave Desert, killing the co-pilot and injuring the pilot. The pilot ejected and suffered “moderate to major injuries,” Kern County Sheriff’s spokesman Ray …

Obamacare Mitigates Costs for Big Employers, Refuting Lobbyists’ Predictions

Business groups said soon after Obamacare became law in 2010 that the sweeping healthcare overhaul would impose huge new costs on U.S. employers, leading to job losses. Three years later, with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in effect, …

Canadian Railway Oil Train Crashes in Saskatchewan

Firefighters contained the blaze triggered by the derailment of a Canadian National Railway Co. train carrying petroleum products and toxic material in a rural area in Saskatchewan yesterday. While there were still flames at the site in the early evening, …

FAA Ruling Grounds AirPooler’s Uber-Style Sharing in Air Travel

The trend in sharing services popularized by Uber Technologies Inc. and Airbnb Inc. will take longer to gain a foothold in the world of aviation, if at all. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration reviewed its rules and determined that AirPooler …