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Container volume in May at the Port of Virginia sank a bit year-over-year, but port officials said they saw the drop coming.

At the Virginia Port Authority board meeting, there was a nearly euphoric sense of gratitude in the wake of the General Assembly’s OK of a $350 million state-backed bond deal – driven by Gov. Terry McAuliffe – supporting the growth of the port’s biggest container terminal, Norfolk International Terminals.

After a three-month lull, container volume at the Port of Virginia’s terminals bounced back significantly in February, increasing nearly 24% from the same month a year ago.

West Virginia bases its fuel taxes on the wholesale price, a policy that cost the state 2.6 cents per gallon of revenue during the past two years.

As the Senate Transportation Committee advanced a bill Feb. 9 to keep tolls on the West Virginia Turnpike, one senator said it's well past time for the state to have a plan for transportation funding.

Volume will determine whether the Virginia Port Authority can climb out of a $5.5 million hole in the first half of the fiscal year and come out ahead, leaving it with the $2.8 million in operating income it originally budgeted, the port said.

Port officials in Virginia and Cuba have signed a pact expected to increase agricultural exports to the Caribbean nation, Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced Jan. 5.