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Today's Technology Headlines: Global online holiday sales to rise 85% this year; IBM to unveil new wireless devices; Plastico.com will use From2 global shipping system; and more.

The national average retail price of diesel fuel reached its highest level ever last week, and it may not have hit its peak.

Five years ago, Alan J. Dabbiere knew his retail distribution software business was on the verge of explosive growth. He also knew that he needed to relocate his company, Manhattan Associates, from Southern California to be closer to his major customers in the Eastern and Central time zones.

Congress returns to Capitol Hill this week from its month-long break, facing a decision on whether to put the Department of Transportation’s hours-of-service rulemaking on ice by freezing its funding.

Over the protests of some trucking companies, the Defense Department has decreed that motor carriers must sign up with the PowerTrack online rate-payment system by Sept. 30 if they want to haul military freight for the government.

The holiday rush has hit U.S. ports and, in a repeat of 1999, port truckers are taking the opportunity to voice complaints about their working conditions.

Congress will vote Sept. 7 whether to override President Clinton’s veto of the bill that would have provided estate tax relief to family-owned businesses, including trucking companies, beginning next year.

Airborne Express is seeking new contract terms for its Teamsters-represented pick-up and delivery drivers to pave the way for an expansion of ground-based package delivery services.

Freightliner Corp. has begun a remanufacturing program aimed at creating a “used truck product line” to compete with both the new and used trucks of other manufacturers.

Fatigue management is one of the most challenging and important human factors facing transportation workers today, according to a group of government and industry experts who attended a Department of Transportation conference on the subject.