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TTNews.com will be closed Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. Please check back on Tuesday, Jan. 22, for the latest trucking and freight transportation news.

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that its 12 district banks reported a moderate pace of growth and inflation late last year as labor markets tightened, and several regional banks reported softer trucking demand.

American Trucking Associations Wednesday named the members of the 2007-2008 America’s Road Team, an elite group of drivers who have driven millions of miles safely and will serve as trucking ambassadors for the next two years.

Three large Arkansas-based trucking companies have pushed ahead with plans to expand despite warnings signs of a slowdown in the trucking industry this year, the Northwest Arkansas Morning News reported.

A major challenge facing the trucking industry as it copes with tighter emission standards from the Environmental Protection Agency is choosing the right type of oil to ensure that engines continue to perform to their maximum capability.

Volkswagen AG, Swedish truck maker Scania AB’s largest shareholder, rejected German truck maker MAN AG’s $13.3 billion hostile bid for Scania, saying it prefers the two companies try to achieve a “friendly” combination, Bloomberg reported.

Intermodal and logistics firm RoadLink USA said Thursday that it has acquired Transus Intermodal, an intermodal trucking services company.

Trucking component maker ArvinMeritor and Wal-Mart Transportation have agreed to develop a dual-mode, diesel-electric drivetrain for a Class 8 tractor, the two said.

Trucking, couriers and messengers, and warehousing and storage revenue reached $292 billion in 2005, up from $266 billion the year before, the U.S. Census Bureau reported.

Paccar Inc., the parent company of Kenworth Truck Co. and Peterbilt Motors Co., said late Tuesday it plans to build a new $400 million powertrain manufacturing plant in the southeastern United States.