For operators and fleet planners, the “what replaces oil” question isn’t theoretical anymore — it’s a purchasing decision being made right now, and the transport sector is splitting cleanly by vehicle class rather than converging on one winner. Passenger and light-duty: battery electric has already won Global electric car sales exceeded 20 million in 2025, reaching about 25 percent of total car sales, and the IEA expects that share to climb to roughly 28 percent in 2026.

Volvo Trucks has introduced a new in-house developed 13-liter engine platform, offering two variants — the D13 diesel and G13 gas — positioned as the most fuel-efficient combustion powertrains the company has produced. Both engines are designed around fuel flexibility from the outset, with compatibility extending to biodiesel, HVO, biogas, bio-LNG, and future green hydrogen applications. The D13 delivers between 380 and 560 horsepower with torque ranging from 1,800 to 2,900 Nm.

Port Houston has secured a $48 million grant through the U.S. Maritime Administration’s Port Infrastructure Development Program to fund construction of a new container yard and exit gate at the Bayport Container Terminal. The port will contribute roughly $56 million in matching funds, bringing the total project value to over $100 million. The investment is structured under Port Houston’s STORM (Strategic Terminal Operations & Resilience Measures) application, which targets four operational objectives: adding 440,000 TEUs of cargo handling capacity, cutting truck turn times through a new East Exit Gate projected to save more than 11 million truck hours over the project’s lifetime, modernizing drainage and utility systems for hazard resilience, and expanding electrical and communications infrastructure to support current equipment generations and terminal security.

Ontario International Airport recorded its fourth consecutive month of passenger growth in March, welcoming 574,819 travelers — a 2.7% year-over-year gain — while commercial air freight tonnage climbed 15.3%, airport officials announced. The headline numbers were driven almost entirely by international traffic, which surged 55.2% to 60,042 passengers in March against the same month last year. Domestic volumes edged down 1.2% to 514,777. Through the first quarter, ONT served 1,546,339 total passengers, up 4.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers and maritime industry leaders held a joint press conference Wednesday to press for passage of the SHIPS for America Act, legislation designed to revitalize the United States shipbuilding capacity and commercial maritime sector. Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA-08), Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee, and Congressman Trent Kelly (R-MS-01), Chairman of the House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, appeared alongside Matt Paxton, President of the Shipbuilders Council of America, and Brian Schoeneman, Chairman of USA Maritime.

A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers, maritime advocates, and labor leaders will gather on April 22 at the U.S. Capitol to voice support for the Shipbuilding and Harbor Infrastructure for Prosperity and Security (SHIPS) for America Act, a sweeping legislative proposal designed to revive and strengthen the United States maritime industrial base. The press conference is scheduled for 11:00 AM PST / 2:00 PM EST at House Triangle on the Capitol’s East Front.

The Department of Transportation’s Freight Logistics Optimization Works program, known as FLOW, represents one of the more operationally significant efforts undertaken by the Multimodal Freight Office since the office’s establishment in September 2023. The initiative operates as a public-private data partnership, collecting purchase order information from importers alongside logistics supply, demand, and throughput data from participating companies, then returning to participants an aggregated daily view of overall logistics network conditions that exceeds what any individual firm could observe from its own operations alone.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has concluded that the Department of Transportation failed to meet a core statutory obligation tied to its Office of Multimodal Freight Infrastructure and Policy: periodic reporting to Congress on the office’s activities, staffing, and program administration. The finding, released April 20, 2026, carries immediate weight as lawmakers prepare to deliberate on the reauthorization of federal surface transportation funding, which expires at the end of fiscal year 2026.