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WASHINGTON — Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), a member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, said the country should move quickly to a vehicle-miles tax but meanwhile should raise fuel taxes significantly, al-though the higher taxes shouldn’t take effect for at least two years.

The Environmental Protection Agency will require onboard diagnostics systems on at least one engine family per manufacturer starting in 2010.

While much of the debate on the upcoming highway bill will focus on funding issues, a senator charged with overseeing the safety portion of the legislation said recently that “the status quo is simply unacceptable.”

SALTILLO, Mexico — Daimler Trucks North America dedicated its $300 million Freightliner plant here Feb. 27, as Mexico’s president, Felipe Calderon, joined company officials to formally launch the new 1.3 million-square-foot facility.

As cash flow becomes tighter for many fleets, more are turning to financial services that pay invoices almost instantly. Trucking and financial executives said that while the service known as “factoring” can be beneficial, once a fleet gets started, it can be hard to stop. As a result, they recommend carriers understand the full scope of services offered and costs involved.

January truck tonnage fell 10.8% below year-ago levels, the fourth consecutive year-over-year decline and another signal the freight recession shows no signs of bottoming out yet, American Trucking Associations said.

Rail and intermodal traffic continued their weeks-long decline last week, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday.

Fourth-quarter U.S. worker productivity fell at a 0.4% annual rate, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The U.S. economy’s service sector contracted in February, at a faster pace than the previous month, the Institute for Supply Management said Wednesday.

February U.S. automobile sales fell to the lowest rate in more than 27 years, led by a 53% plunge for General Motors Corp., Bloomberg reported.