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Logistics service providers are adjusting as the global economic downturn has caused many companies to curtail production and reduce inventories, stalling the longtime trend of expanding international trade, thereby reducing demand for transportation services in North America.

FedEx Corp. said an Internal Revenue Service audit team has proposed that no assessment of federal employment taxes be made against the company’s ground parcel unit for 2002, an important step in FedEx’s continuing legal battle over whether some of its workers are independent contractors or employees.

Investor Warren Buffett made a dramatic bid to buy the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., the largest U.S. railroad, in a move valued at $44 billion and intended to capitalize on future economic growth and intermodal’s potential.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in response to a legal challenge to the current hours-of-service regulations, will completely rewrite the 2008 HOS regulations, issue a proposed rulemaking within nine months and a new final rule in less than two years.

Choosing the right freight forwarder to support your transportation efforts never has been more critical than during the current crippling recession — which may or may not be abating.

Third-quarter worker productivity jumped to an annual rate of 9.5%, the Labor Department said Thursday.

U.S. intermodal rail traffic fell 11.1% in the week ended Saturday compared with the same week last year, the Association of American Railroads said.

The U.S. economy’s service sector slowed its expansion last month, the Institute for Supply Management said Wednesday.

Transportation and third-party logistics firm Pacer International said its third-quarter profit fell to $600,000, or 2 cents per share, compared with $20.8 million, or 59 cents, a year earlier.

Tank truck carrier Quality Distribution reported a third-quarter profit of $1.4 million, or 7 cents per share, up from $700,000, or 4 cents, a year ago.