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Herb Schmidt, president of Con-way Truckload, said the carrier will replace its Geologic mobile communications equipment with Qualcomm’s OmniVision system.

Congress, President Bush and the Federal Reserve agreed last week to several dramatic moves aimed at stimulating the U.S. economy, and trucking industry officials said they hoped the actions would boost the fortunes of freight haulers.

Johnson Refrigerated Truck Bodies said that it has developed an automatic defrost option for its fiberglass truck bodies that is “100% automatic, requires zero man-hours [and] no water.”

A federal court rejected a request that it overturn the driver hours-of-service rule retaining controversial longer driving times that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued last month.

As truck stops become more consolidated into a few large national networks, tire manufacturers are finding that they can provide fleets with a full range of tire services — not simply emergency repairs and replacements — while trucks are on the road.

The U.S. national average retail diesel fuel price fell 5.6 cents a gallon last week to $3.27, while gasoline dipped 5.1 cents to $3.017, the Department of Energy said.

Iteris Inc., which makes lane-departure warning systems for the trucking industry, reported its fiscal third-quarter profit improved from a year ago.

Arkansas Best Corp. said Friday its fourth-quarter profit declined to $13.5 million, or 54 cents a share, from $14.2 million, or 56 cents, a year earlier.