The American Trucking Associations' seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index contracted 0.9% in August after increasing 0.4% in July, it said. The drop in August, while not erasing the cumulative 1.5% gain in June and July, was significant, the ATA said. But, compared with August 2011, the SA index was 3.2% higher in August 2012. Year-to-date, compared with the same period last year, tonnage was up 3.7%, ATA said. "Expect tough year-over-year comparisons to continue through the rest of the year as tonnage grew nicely during the last five months of 2011," ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said. As a result, tonnage is expected to increase less than 3.5% in 2012.

Contract talks between the Teamsters union and UPS and UPS Freight are to begin Sept. 27, the union said. It said the national union and locals have approved the union proposals to be presented at the meeting. No details were immediately available on the specific proposals.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide said it agreed to buy Phoenix International for $571.5 million in cash and about $63.5 million in newly-issued C.H. Robinson stock, subject to regulatory approval and conditions. Closing is expected in the fourth quarter, it said. Phoenix is a privately-held international freight forwarder, with net revenue of about $161 million in the fiscal year ended June 30, and operating income of about $48 million, it said. It provides international freight forwarding services, including ocean, air, and customs brokerage to about 15,000 customers. It has about 2,000 employees in 76 offices in 15 countries.

Textainer Group announced the closing of an underwritten public offering of 8,625,000 of its common shares at $31.50 per share. The container company said it intends to use the net proceeds for capital expenditures and general corporate purposes.

FedEx Corp. said it had $10.79 billion revenue in the first quarter, ended Aug. 31, up 3% from the previous year. Net income was $459 million, down 1%. It said FedEx Express will increase shipping rates by a net average of 3.9% for U.S. domestic, U.S. export and U.S. import services effective Jan. 7, 2013.

The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America said this year's Government Affairs Conference broke its attendance record. The conference Sept. 9-11 had "nearly 175 attendees," the association said. Next year, the conference is scheduled for Sept. 22-24, 2013 at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill.

Cheniere Energy Partners said its subsidiary, Sabine Pass Liquefaction, signed agreements with Total Gas & Power North America for Sabine Liquefaction to progressively get access to Total's send-out capacity and other services provided under its terminal use agreement with Sabine Pass LNG. The agreements will give Sabine Liquefaction additional berthing and storage capacity at the Sabine Pass LNG terminal that may be used to accommodate the development of a fifth liquefaction train, provide increased flexibility in managing LNG cargo loading and unloading activity starting with the commencement of commercial operations of the third liquefaction train, and permit Sabine Liquefaction to more flexibly manage its storage with the commencement of the first liquefaction train, Cheniere said.

Total cargo volume handled by airports worldwide was up 0.2% to 93.1 million tons, according to the new Airport Operators Council International report. Changes ranged from down 1.3% in North America to up 7.6% in Latin America and the Caribbean for 2011, it said. The three busiest cargo airports for the year were Hong Kong, Memphis and Shanghai, it said.

Trade using surface transportation between the U.S. and Canada and Mexico was up 6.6 percent in June 2012 than in June 2011, to $82.6 billion, said the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Adjusted for inflation and exchange rates, the June 2012 total was $61 billion in 2004 dollars, up 11 percent from June 2011, BTS said. Surface transportation includes freight movements by truck, rail, pipeline, mail, Foreign Trade Zones, and other modes of transport. But the value of U.S. surface transportation trade with Canada and Mexico decreased 1.4 percent in June from May, possibly due to seasonal variations and other factors. U.S. surface trade with Mexico has increased at a faster pace than with Canada, according to BTS figures. U.S.-Canada trade reached $48.4 billion in June, up 5 percent, and U.S.-Mexico trade was $34.2 billion, up 8.8 percent. The top commodity category transported between the U.S. and Canada by surface modes of transportation in June was vehicles, valued at $9.9 billion.

Louisiana Sugar Refining said it received a re-export license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, giving LSR access to the world sugar market. The USDA Refined Sugar Re-Export Program establishes a license under which a refiner can: Export domestically produced refined sugar and later import an equivalent quantity of world raw sugar; Import world raw sugar for refining and within 90 days of entry, either re-export an equivalent quantity of refined sugar into the Customs territory of a foreign country or transfer the equivalent quantity of refined sugar to domestic sugar containing products manufacturers that possess a valid sugar containing products re-export license. Details are (here). LSR sugar is marketed by Cargill.