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Chairman Alan Greenspan and his colleagues at the Federal Reserve are sending signals that they may soon cut interest rates to stimulate a sagging economy, and the trucking industry has a major stake in the outcome.

Swift Transportation Co. stunned the truckload sector of the industry last week when it announced it would acquire rival M.S. Carriers for $383 million, making it the third-largest carrier in that market.

As the winter solstice approaches, the sky darkens earlier and the lights at the FedEx Ground distribution hub here burn longer so that gifts adorned with impersonal bar codes can speed along cold conveyor belts toward their final destination at a rate of 540 feet per minute.

General Motors Corp. and CNF Inc. have created a joint venture company to serve as the automotive giant’s 4PL — a fourth-party logistics service provider.

As the winter solstice approaches, the sky darkens earlier and the lights at the FedEx Ground distribution hub here burn longer so that gifts adorned with impersonal bar codes can speed along cold conveyor belts toward their final destination at a rate of 540 feet per minute.

A trucking feud, ignited over the remains of a bankrupt motor carrier, has been settled by the parties without a shot being fired, but not before a Tennessee court became involved.

Mathematics purists know the new millennium really starts Jan. 1, 2001, and a prominent Wall Street analyst believes that will be the beginning of a year when truckload stocks finally soar above the rubble of 1999 and 2000 left by motor carriers that just could not make it.

The Department of Defense announced the creation of a joint military-industry fuel price board in a step toward payment of a fuel surcharge by the Pentagon for the transport of goods by commercial motor carriers.

While many companies have taken a beating on Wall Street this year, one financial analyst predicts that truckload stocks will rebound in 2001 and outperform the S&P 500.

The Department of Defense - a big customer for the trucking industry - came in under budget on its transportation expenses in 2000, according to the general commanding the Military Traffic Management Command.