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Soaring fuel prices from the Iran war are forcing oil traders into longer, stranger journeys, sending cargoes on routes that would normally make little sense.

Transportation groups are coalescing around familiar priorities: safety, stable highway funding and efficient integration of emerging technologies.

Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka stressed that while cargo flows remain intact, the broader operating environment has become more unpredictable.

Retail sales rose a better-than-expected 0.6% in February. There is a concern that Americans squeezed by years of elevated inflation will cut spending further.

Financial markets muddled through the first two months of the year. Then came the war in Iran.

With crude oil surpassing $100 a barrel, stopgap measures are helping, but they're not adding up to enough oil to replace what's stranded, experts say.

Stocks are rushing higher worldwide, and oil prices are easing April 1 as hopes build that the war with Iran could end soon.

The move comes as Unilever agreed to combine its food business with spice maker McCormick in a $44.8 billion deal.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, fell 0.3% to $107.10. Benchmark U.S. crude slipped 0.3%.

The last time U.S. drivers were collectively paying this much at the pump was nearly four years ago, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.