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WASHINGTON — The prospects of the Senate passing controversial cap-and-trade climate legislation in 2010 appear to be very slim, a panel of Washington insiders said last week.

North American railroads ended 2009 with the largest annual percentage drop in freight traffic in six decades, but the carriers finished on a high note by topping 2008 levels for the final three weeks of last year.

In the “Letters & Comments” section of your Jan. 4 issue, BNSF Railway Group Vice President Stephen Branscum sought to clarify a comment from a recent conference, published in a story in Transport Topics. In his letter, he cited as accurate “BNSF’s willingness to work with shippers and American Trucking Associations to develop progressive.

FedEx Corp. is expanding its air fleet in China because that country will lead a global rebound in air cargo traffic, Bloomberg reported.

The U.S. economy continued to improve modestly from mid-November to early January and conditions have improved for transportation, but economic activity remained low, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced Tuesday the creation of FocusDriven, an organization dedicated to fighting distracted driving.

WASHINGTON — Anne Ferro, head of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, told Transport Topics she hoped the agency will get a variety of points of view during its upcoming public hearings on hours-of-service.