*By Michael Teich*
Trucking company U.S. Xpress's return to public markets Thursday puts it in position to keep pace with the industry's latest innovations, the company's chief executive said.
In its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange since 2007, the company's stock was up over 4 percent.
The CEO Eric Fuller said in an interview with Cheddar that access to capital market allows U.S. Xpress to better manage rising costs and invest in emerging technologies.
"The biggest cost is no drivers," Fuller said. The dearth of drivers is among the biggest challenges facing the entire trucking industry
Unpredictable schedules and an uneven work-life balance scare off potential truck drivers, but Fuller said technology can help drive trucking business forward. He said he was optimistic about the development of "driver-assist" innovations that can provide drivers with precise routes and more stable working hours. That technology should be available in 5-10 years, he said, adding that the trucking industry will have to wait a lot longer for fully autonomous vehicles .
"I believe it will happen sometime, but probably 20 years out," he said.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/u-s-xpress-gears-up-for-next-gen-trucking-with-ipo).
Darden, the parent company of chain restaurants like Olive Garden and Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, beat Wall Street estimates in its latest earnings report.
A former Facebook executive pled guilty to stealing more than $4 million from the company while she was employed there.
Rising safety concerns over water bead products marketed to kids have prompted major retailers like Amazon, Target and Walmart to pull some toys off their shelves.
The Congressional Budget Office said Friday it expects inflation to nearly hit the Federal Reserve's 2% target rate in 2024, as overall growth is expected to slow and unemployment is expected to rise into 2025, according to updated economic projections for the next two years.
Intel is out with a new product to challenge other big players in the space like Nvidia and AMD.
Stocks fell after the opening bell Friday but will end on another positive week.
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Americans picked up their spending from October to November as the unofficial holiday season kicked off, underscoring that shoppers still have power to keep buying.
The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate dropped below 7% to its lowest level since early August, another boost for prospective homebuyers who have largely been held back by sharply higher borrowing costs and heightened competition for relatively few homes for sale.
Mortgage rates have dropped below 7% for the first time since the middle of August.
