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Traditional third-party logistics providers seem unfazed by the proliferation of their online counterparts. But some observers wonder whether the tech-savvy newcomers may one day reduce the role of the conventional logisticians to little more than package-pushers.

Productivity improvements in the logistics and trucking industries generated by computers and use of the Internet may be imperiled by the Transportation Department’s hour-of-service rules, according to a leading industry analyst.

A jury will decide later this year whether the producers of “Dateline NBC” misrepresented their intentions to a Maine trucking company owner in developing a segment on driver fatigue for the television news show.

Trucking companies are part of a ground swell of public sentiment seeking repeal of the estate tax,which kicks in when family-held businesses or property are transferred from one generation to another, and Congress is taking note.

The battle for control of Simon Transportation Services escalated during the week of June 5, with the Simon and Moyes families dueling for control of the truckload, refrigerated carrier.

Owners of trucks that have only an old ICC identification number will have to start painting their carriers’ DOT number on the doors.

The Teamsters’ 2-month-old strike of Associated Wholesale Grocers ended June 4 with the ratification of an eight-year contract between the company and three locals in Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

Hazardous materials placards may be placed at a level below the trailer’s floor and behind the rear underride guard as long as they are not obscured, according to a June 2 decision by the Department of Transportation’s Research and Special Programs Administration.

Gov. George E. Pataki ordered the price of diesel fuel and gasoline sold on the New York Thruway to be cut by a nickel for the summer driving season.

The price of diesel fuel dropped 1.2 cents this week, amid predictions that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will increase production by another 500,000 barrels a day.