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LAS VEGAS — Leading heavy-duty truck components manufacturers said technology exists today to build a safer, environmentally friendly and low-cost heavy-duty “world truck,” but major obstacles are consumer acceptance and the lack of a single global standard for emissions and safety technology.

Swedish truck maker Scania AB posted a fifth straight gain in quarterly income and German rival MAN AG dropped a hostile takeover bid in favor of friendly negotiations, Bloomberg reported.

Hino Motors Ltd., Japan’s largest maker of heavy-duty trucks, saw its fiscal third-quarter profit drop 45% as the company spent more to develop new models and expand production, Bloomberg reported.

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor.WASHINGTON — Shippers would like to see a switch to larger trucks, and U.S. safety inspectors monitoring size-and-weight rules could have more technology at their disposal in the coming years, according to a Transportation Research Board panel discussion here.

Crude oil futures posted their biggest one-day gain Tuesday since September 2005, rising on forecasts of continuing cold weather and expectations of a stronger U.S. economy, Bloomberg reported.

Heavy-duty truck maker Paccar said Tuesday its fourth-quarter profit rose 22% to $380.5 million or $1.52 a share, from $312.9 million or $1.22 a year earlier.

Components maker ArvinMeritor Inc. said its fiscal first-quarter earnings fell to $7 million or 10 cents a share, from $34 million or 49 cents a year earlier, as it said it faced challenges from the automotive, light-duty and heavy-duty truck segments.

Truck manufacturer Freightliner LLC plans to lay off about 800 of its 1,700 workers in Portland, Ore., and stop making Freightliner trucks in that city, the Associated Press reported.

Tank truck carrier Quality Distribution lowered its earnings guidance for the fourth quarter and full-year 2006, due to lower seasonal demand.

The president of trucking software provider TMW Systems said he does not expect a slowdown in sales this year, even as some trucking companies face a downturn in demand for freight-hauling services.