US regulators mull crackdown on consolidation in transport sector

US regulators are considering a crackdown on the transportation industry’sconsolidation activity, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told Bloomberg. “I am concerned about this broader pattern of concentration. We see it in airlines, we see it in ocean shipping and we see it in freight railroads,” Buttigieg said, adding that “we are watching very carefully to see what’s happening and meanwhile, being as vigorous as we can with the tools that we have on the competition side.” Buttigieg also said the agency is considering whether to weigh in on proceedings before the country’s Surface Transportation Board, the primary railroad regulator, and the Federal Maritime Commission, which oversees ocean shipping companies.