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Linx Partners has acquired ADS Logistics Co., a provider of trucking, warehouse and intermodal services to the metals industry.

Teamsters union members working in the U.S. car-haul industry approved a new contract that will last more than four years, the union said from its national headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Kraft Foods said a plan to split the Northfield, Ill.-based company into two separate businesses — a global snack foods business with revenue of about $32 billion and a North American grocery distribution business with revenue of about $16 billion — will lead to new distribution strategies for each company.

The Virginia Trucking Association recently warned carriers to read the fine print when they agree to participate in federally funded university studies, claiming that researchers used motor carrier data from a 2009 distracted-driving study in a subsequent study to support a pending hours-of-service rule.

A federally funded program that retrofitted 76 trucks in Arizona with new $1,600 catalytic converters was terminated after public uproar that some of the money was being spent on Mexican carriers.

A survey of more than 4,500 truck drivers concluded that drivers have a poor understanding of the government’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program, and nearly two-thirds fear they could lose their jobs because of the ratings program.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Despite being some of the nation’s top professional drivers, competitors at the 2011 National Truck Driving Championships said it was only natural to be nervous.

Trucking stocks have suffered a thrashing this month from in­vestors as the overall stock market bounced up and down, pressured by worries about European debt, the United States’ debt downgrade and the global economy, but several analysts expressed confidence in the industry.

Increasing freight hauling demand and possible changes in hours-of-service rules and vehicle weight limits are forcing the largest private fleets in the United States and Canada to focus more attention on the availability of drivers and the cost of transporting goods.