Wi-Fi in The Dalles and Truck Transportation Across Oregon

Today we bring you two stories from the Statesman Journal. The first article reports on Google's expansion of wireless internet (or wi-fi) in The Dalles. The company is investing an additional $50,000 to expand free wi-fi in the city, where it has a large data center. According to the report, Google said the wi-fi project represents a shared commitment to making The Dalles a city of the future.

Tax breaks that drew Google to The Dalles reportedly total $20 million annually. In turn, the company's presence in the Columbia Gorge city generates franchise fees that increase the city's general fund revenue by hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

The second article details the state of Oregon's truck transportation industry, a topic we recently posted. Here are a few highlights:

• Oregon’s truck transportation industry peaked in August 2006 with nearly 20,000 jobs. The industry bottomed out in 2010 with an annual average of 16,320 covered jobs, a drop of 16.5 percent from 2006.

• On a regional basis, Portland and the surrounding area lost the most jobs, falling from 10,100 jobs in 2006 to 8,130 in 2010, for a loss of 1,980 jobs or 19.6 percent.

• Shipments originating in Oregon often remain within the state’s borders, with nearly 75 percent of the tonnage or 137.8 million tons headed for another destination within the state.

• Truck transportation workers are heavily concentrated in the 45 to 64 age group, which represented nearly 55 percent of the industry’s total employment in 2011.

You can find more information in the original article, written by Employment Department Regional Economist Dallas Fridley.