Here are five things worth knowing today: 1. A study of Rhode Island Gov. Raimondo’s truck-toll plan to pay for the state’s deteriorating infrastructure found that the governor’s plan would boost economic activity by more than half a billion dollars and create 6,487 jobs, the Providence Journal reports. However, the study also found that raising the state’s gas tax would create even more jobs – 6,656 over the next decade – and generate $22 million more than tolling alone in gross domestic product. The Providence Journal has more. 2. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) shocked his fellow Republicans on Thursday when he withdrew from the race for House speaker. According to The Washington Post, all signs are pointing to Paul Ryan to fill outgoing speaker John Boehner’s vacancy. But Ryan is reluctant to take on the role. According to the report, Boehner told Ryan that “he was the only man who could save House Republicans from their self-created chaos.” Yet, Ryan has declined to explicitly state his plans, according to The Post. When it comes to passing a long-term transportation plan, Fleet Owner reported last week that the American Trucking Assns. said until House Republicans choose their new leaders, it is difficult to speculate what any potential impacts to the industry may be.3. XPO Logistics announced that it is taking a break from acquisitions, the Journal of Commerce reports. According to the report, the company plans to use the break to integrate backroom services and take hundreds of millions of dollars of cost out of its operations. XPO CEO Bradley Jacobs told JOC that the company does, however, intend to grow in size and revenues in the long run. XPO’s pending acquisition of Con-way is expected to close in the next couple of weeks. According to the report, XPO has bought 16 companies during the past four years. 4. According to the Puget Sound Business Journal, Paccar’s new truck engine, the MX-11, could be an economic boost for the company’s Western Washington operations. The company houses its corporate headquarters in Bellevue, a truck factory in Renton, a truck test in Snohomish, and next year it plans to open an expanded 176,000-sq.-ft. parts distribution center in Renton. The Business Journal has more. 5. Sentencing for the former CEO of Arrow Trucking has been delayed, Oklahoma’s News 6 reports. James Douglas Pielsticker, who pleaded guilty to tax and bank fraud in February, faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and $50 million in fines. According to the report, his sentence hearing was Thursday, but postponed after a federal judge said he needed more time to decide Pielsticker’s fate.
