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The first shot in what is expected to be a rapid consolidation of Internet-based transportation companies was fired last week with a proposed merger of Logistics.com and QuoteShip.com.

The Truckload Carriers Association does not plan any more integration discussions with American Trucking Associations, according to TCA Chairman Robert Hansen.

Illinois lawmakers responded to dizzyingly high fuel prices by suspending the state’s 5% sales tax on diesel and gasoline for six months.

The Professional Truck Drivers Institute is walking slowly down the road to independence.

The discovery of the bodies of 58 Chinese immigrants who died in a truck while trying to sneak into England prompted outrage overseas and forced European officials to step up efforts to stop human smuggling.

The Idaho Department of Transportation Board voted to add nearly 30 more state highways to the list of roads that trucks pulling 53-foot trailers may travel without a special permit.

Stronger, better, longer-lasting tires could bring tax difficulties for trucking companies, according to the taxation committee chairman of an American Trucking Associations council.

Election-year politics and a split between a Republican Congress and a Democratic White House means no major tax issues will be settled during the balance of this year, according to a Washington-based tax lawyer.

Yellow Corp. has joined the growing list of trucking companies that are buying back their stock, announcing June 23 its intention to spend up to $25 million in the repurchasing program.

Congress needs to prevent the Department of Transportation from rushing out the door with a half-baked hours-of-service rule that would have a devastating impact on trucking. And the best way for Congress to do that is to embrace the Senate’s ban on using any of the money in the new DOT budget from being spent on finalizing the rule.