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A handful of truckload fleets have raised owner-operator pay as the driver market tightens.

In a potentially far-reaching decision, the Internal Revenue Service has determined that a Southern California drayage operator classified a truck driver as an independent contractor rather than an employee.

When the economy deteriorates, the use of preventive maintenance at trucking companies — including programs involving tires — sometimes follows suit, regardless of climate conditions such as the coming of winter.

In a slow retreat from the two-year high it reached in November, the U.S. retail diesel price average slipped again last week, falling 0.9 cent to $3.162 a gallon, the U.S. Department of Energy reported after its weekly survey of filling stations.

Booming dry-van sales led to a surge in U.S. trailer registrations in the third quarter, as buyers registered 35% more new trailers than in the corresponding period of last year, R.L. Polk & Co. reported.

Even as total heavy-duty truck capacity continued to decline during the third quarter, recent reports on registrations of new and used trucks, rising orders for new vehicles and slowing sales of used tractors appeared to set the stage for a renaissance in new-truck sales.

Tank and bulk carrier Patriot Transportation Holding said its board has approved a 3-for-1 stock split, effective in January.

Initial jobless claims rose by 26,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.