PORTLAND, Ore. — The CEOs of Kroger and Albertsons were set to testify in federal court Sept. 4, midway through a three-week hearing in which the grocery chains have defended their proposed merger.

Tyson Foods said Curt Calaway has been named chief financial officer, replacing company heir John R. Tyson.

Kroger Co. and Albertsons Cos. are finally getting their day in court. Nearly two years after the acquisition was announced, the grocery giants on Aug. 26 started a federal court hearing in Portland, Ore., on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s bid to block the $24.6 billion deal.

Halliburton, the world’s biggest provider of fracking services, said it is alerting customers and other stakeholders after an unauthorized third party gained access to some of its systems.

Albertsons Cos. was sued by an e-commerce software maker that claims the grocery chain conducted trials with its product for three years only to steal its trade secrets to build its own system.

Kroger is poised to sell investment-grade bonds in at least seven parts to help fund its proposed acquisition of Albertsons as antitrust scrutiny continues to hang over the plan.

Walmart Inc.’s initiatives to strengthen its in-house trucking operations have elevated it to No. 1 on this year’s updated Transport Topics Top 100 Private Carriers list.

Although freight market conditions have been favorable to shippers for the past two years, many of the largest private carriers in North America operate larger fleets now than in years past.

Even at a time when for-hire truck capacity is readily available at com­petitive rates, many shippers have continued to invest in their own private fleets.

Learn more about Transport Topics’ Top 100 Private Carriers publication.