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To get ready for a new generation light- and medium-duty diesel engine, GM Powertrain is handing over production of its current 6.5-liter diesel engine to one of its biggest non-GM customers, AM General of South Bend, Ind.

As the oft-quoted sage of Upper Montclair, N.J., Yogi Berra, said: It's deja vu all over again, as Norfolk Southern Corp. and CSX Corp. fitfully struggle to absorb Conrail. Along the way, the railroads are managing to harm their reputations and franchises as they alienate customers, lose freight and incur great expense.

The Boston Tea Party signaled the end of the colonial merchants’ patience with taxes they saw as unreasonable. This historic event of 226 years ago invites a 1999 replay in Oregon as the Legislature continues to look at the crazy-quilt of state highway taxes.

Memphis, Tenn.-based holding company FDX Corp. said profits increased 26% in the fiscal year that ended May 31 thanks to good performances by its air freight carrier Federal Express and ground package carrier RPS Inc.

Refrigerated trailers have come a long way since they replaced carted boxes of perishable goods cooled with blocks of ice. Their evolution continues as technology advances and customers make new demands.

The idea of packing food in ice to haul it long distances has been around since the Roman Empire. But it took a truckload of spoiled meat in 1938 and a challenge to a golfing buddy to prompt the invention of today's refrigerated trailer.

Air shipping rights obtained in a purchase of Challenge Air Cargo could give United Parcel Service dominant market share of both heavy air cargo and express package service in Latin America.

Domino's Pizza put a 48-foot-long, 102-inch-high Utility refrigerated trailer - equipped with backup lights, a video camera and proximity sensors - through its paces from its distribution center in Nashville, Tenn. Despite the kinks, the pizza purveyor bought a stripped-down version. Domino’s liked the trailer so much the company ended up buying it, though without most of the high-tech equipment.

The devil is in the details, complained fleet operators who criticized truck manufacturers for poor quality control in shipping new equipment to buyers. Some said the increased production of Class 8 trucks could be partly to blame.