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If recent upward trends in freight flow continue, they could exacerbate the traffic congestion in communities that lie along heavily traveled freight routes, a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office said.

August’s truck tonnage index jumped 4.5% from a year ago to a record 132.6 reading, American Trucking Associations said Sept. 23.

Shippers can expect to pay more to secure freight-hauling capacity as truck and rail carriers raise rates to cover rising costs and to fund investments in equipment and infrastructure, according to transportation and logistics executives.

Officials of trucking-management software vendor TMW Systems Inc. last week outlined steps the company is taking to smooth internal operations and user experiences, and several of its associated plug-in partners announced new integrations with TMW products.

The top organizations representing the freight industry and state transportation officials again urged Congress to reject efforts by a small group of conservatives looking to diminish vast federal funding for big-ticket transportation projects.

The long-overlooked intermodal trucker took center stage last week as some industry officials insisted that shippers, railroads and other participants must treat them better, while others assessed growing threats to the traditional owner-operator structure.

Diesel dropped 2.3 cents last week to $3.778 a gallon, the lowest price in more than two years, the Department of Energy reported.