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The U.S. economy expanded at a lower rate than previously reported in the third quarter, growing at a 2.2% annual rate versus the 2.8% reported last month, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

The Intermodal Association of North America’s Web-based equipment registry, designed to simplify compliance with new container safety rules, has begun operations, the group said.

Due to the weekend snow storm in the Mid-Atlantic, Transport Topics Online will be closed on Monday, Dec. 21. Please check back later this week for the latest trucking and freight transportation news.

Beginning Jan. 1, officials at the Southern California sister ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will face yet another challenge as they begin the second phase of their clean trucks plans: fewer trucks.

Trucking fleets focused on survival in 2009 as freight haulers battled a widespread economic downturn and confronted the prospect of significant new safety and environmental regulations from the Obama administration.

In a flurry of activity before its holiday recess, Congress approved more than $40 billion in new highway spending for 2010, moved toward adding another $27 billion, approved a truck-weight exemption and quietly dropped a prohibition on a federal pilot program allowing trucking across the U.S.-Mexico border.

One silver lining in the financial storm of the past year or so had been a steep decline in the price of oil generally and diesel fuel in particular.

Roadrunner Transportation Services Holdings Inc. said it bought less-than-truckload carrier Bullet Freight Systems Inc. on Dec. 14 to expand its services in the western United States.