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Xata Corp.’s acquisition of fellow fleet technology provider GeoLogic Solutions gives the company its first real foothold for marketing information technology systems to for-hire trucking fleets, an executive with the Eden Prairie, Minn., firm said.

The commission charged with examining the future of the national transportation system is set to recommend a significant increase in federal fuel taxes to Congress, according to wire service reports and other sources.

Information technology vendors took aim at smaller fleets in 2007, offering software and tracking options that don’t require carriers to invest in full onboard computer systems.

The U.S. Department of Transportation asked private companies and governments to provide information on commercially available technologies that could be used to reduce congestion and improve the safety of the transportation system.

Specialty truck maker Oshkosh Truck Corp. won a $179.3 million U.S. Army contract for heavy equipment mobility truck systems, Bloomberg reported.

On the heels of YRC Worldwide’s settlement with the Teamsters union on a new five-year labor contract with in-creased work-rule flexibility, ABF Freight System said it will offer an ambitious proposal to spend about $825 million to “withdraw from all of the 27 multi-employer pension plans to which we contribute.”

Ryder System said Wednesday it will buy the truck leasing business of Lily Transportation Corp., a Northeast regional transportation services company based in Needham, Mass.

The Department of Transportation said Tuesday it is asking private industry, research organizations, and state and local governments for commercially available technology to fight congestion and improve the safety within the U.S. transportation system.

Old Dominion Freight Line said it would purchase some assets of Bullocks Express Transportation, a Denver-based trucking company.

Financial firm Barclays Global Investors, which had been the largest shareholder in Ryder System, has reduced its stake in Ryder by more than 50%, Bloomberg reported.