Sen. Barbara Boxer is pushing for a blanket policy for airlines dealing with the checked baggage of military personnel.

2012 hopeful accused the union of having "bought and paid for" President Obama's last campaign.

Two members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee offered competing opinions on a plan to privatize rail service in the Northeast in Thursday's print edition of The Hill.

Presently, Amtrak operates the interstate passenger rail service through the Northeast portion of the country, where railways are most popular. But Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) said in op-ed Thursday that "the time has come to deregulate America's passenger rail system."

"By focusing on projects that make sense, leveraging private-sector investment and opening the door to public-private partnerships, we can do more with less and finally take our nation in a new direction," wrote Shuster, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials.

Your morning transportation news-feed:

Politifact has rated claims the federal government is threatening to shut down flights to Texas if the state bans Transportation Security Administration pat-downs half-true.

A former Transportation Security Administration supervisor is heading to jail for allowing employees to steal from passengers.

Tampa's International Airport is clamoring for more international flights.

Delta Airlines is moving some of its operations from Minnesota to Atlanta.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) said Wednesday that he would hold a hearing next week on rail safety to examine reports that terrorist Osama bin Laden was planning to target American railways at the time of death.

Lautenberg promised to examine the issue after evidence of the plots was gathered in bin Laden's Pakistani compound during the May raid by U.S. troops that resulted in his death. The intelligence collected in the raid revealed the al Qaeda leader envisioned commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks by blowing up trains.

Lautenberg, who chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, said Wednesday that even though bin Laden has been done now for about month, it was important to protect against his final plots.

“Millions of Americans ride our railroads each day, and an attack on one of these systems would be catastrophic," Lautenberg said in a statement.

Showing off his company's newest 777 airplane, FedEx International President Michael Ducker said Congress passing several pending trade agreements would help the company get the global business the new large airplanes give it capacity to handle.

Speaking to reporters at Washington's Dulles International Airport in northern Virginia, Ducker said he would like to see Congress get moving on deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea that have languished the entire time President Obama has been in office.

"We see ourselves as enablers, great proponents of trade," said Ducker,  who also serves as the company's Chief Operating Officer.

"Trade agreements have a great benefit," to companies like FedEx, he added.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) is hopeful that his bill to create a National Infrastructure Bank will move through the Senate this year.

The bill could be the best shot for those seeking to boost transportation, energy and water infrastructure investment in a Congress focused on “rapacious” spending cuts, Kerry said.

The Kerry bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), would create an independent, nonprofit bank that would leverage private investment into infrastructure projects. The bill was introduced in March.

Kerry told The Hill after a Capitol Hill event on the topic that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) is supportive of the legislation, though he has some questions. Kerry said he is working through those issues with Baucus en route to a Finance markup of the bill.

Your morning transportation speed-read:

Nearly 25 percent of domestic flights in April arrived late because of thunderstorms at airport hubs.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has announced the location of the first of his promised 100 "protected bike lanes."

A newspaper wants California Gov. Jerry Brown to end his silence on a proposed high-speed rail there.

The new Airbus airplane now flies to Washington's Dulles International Airport.

Continuing the recent string of good news for the American automakers, Ford Motor Company said Tuesday that it expected its worldwide sales to go up 50 percent by the year 2014.

Ford, the lone American car company that did not take a government bailout in 2008, is enjoying part of a renaissance alongside Chrysler and General Motors. The latter two-thirds of the companies commonly-referred to as the "Big Three" have announced recently they are repaying their government loans early and investing $2 billion in new plants.

On Tuesday, Ford chimed in that expecting sales of its global product to go up to about 8 million vehicles. Currently, Ford sells about 5.3 million cars around the world, the company said.

"Ford is a growing company operating in a growing global automotive market,” Ford CEO Alan Mulally said. “Through our One Ford plan, we are increasing our product investments to meet this growing demand with a full family of best-in-class products.”

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