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UPS Inc. last week began contract talks with the Teamsters union, while the company awaited additional developments in its planned $6.7 billion purchase of TNT Express N.V., its largest-ever planned acquisition.

Stronger oversight and better assessments are needed to determine if the TIGER grant program is producing its expected benefits, a report from the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General said.

Trailer orders rose 15% in August from a year earlier, ACT Research reported, reversing a recent pattern of decline and fueling hope that the traditionally strong fourth quarter order pace will occur again this year.

J.R. “Bob” Halladay, a longtime trucking leader who formerly served as senior vice president for federation relations for American Trucking Associations, died last week at the age of 91 after complications from a stroke and Parkinson’s disease.

ORLANDO, Fla. — TMW Systems Inc. is expanding the capabilities of its transportation management software to the evolving needs of today’s transportation providers, CEO David Wangler said.

With federal funding of transportation research facing political and budgetary pressures, many schools and research institutions are turning to industry to support research ranging from alternative fuels to electronic networks that connect vehicles and roadway infrastructure in ways that could lead to fewer and less severe crashes, according to industry experts and academic sources.

Retail diesel fuel prices declined 4.9 cents to $4.086 a gallon last week, the first price drop in 12 weeks, as U.S. demand weakened, according to the Department of Energy.

The federal government defended its latest hours-of-service rule last week, telling a U.S. court that it “acted at the height of its expertise and discretion” when it decided in December to put new restrictions on the 34-hour restart provision, while retaining the 11-hour driving day.

U.S. truck tonnage rose a modest 3.2% in August from a year earlier, the second-slowest gain of the year, as a weakening economy dragged down freight activity, American Trucking Associations reported last week.