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Electronic commerce is a term associated most readily with consumer-oriented retail sales tools such as Amazon.com, eBay.com and the like, but the electronic transaction of commerce has been de rigueur for the trucking industry for years.

The 700-member Truckload Carriers Association plans to oppose a proposed federal mandate requiring the use of electronic onboard recorders because there is no evidence that the technology will improve highway safety, the association’s president said.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration last week proposed requiring nearly all interstate commercial motor carriers to install electronic data recorders to monitor their drivers’ hours-of-service compliance.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration proposed a regulation Monday that would require interstate truck and bus companies to install electronic onboard recorders in vehicles to monitor drivers’ hours of service.

Qualcomm Inc. said it has released its CSA Safety Performance Service to help carriers manage performance related to the federal Compliance, Safety, Accountability regulations’ new safety-measurement system.

Truckload carrier C.R. England said it is moving forward with more technology deployment in its intermodal unit, most recently by ordering more than 600 tracking modules for its fleet of refrigerated intermodal trailers and containers.

A federal appeals court granted the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration an extension on its proposal for hours-of-service documents until Jan. 31.

As the most stringent emission rules yet took effect in 2010, manufacturers brought their latest emissions technology to U.S. buyers against a backdrop of recovering truck sales and continuing contention about which type of pollution control best serves the industry.

Ryder System said it will acquire The Scully Companies, a California-based provider of contract carriage and related services.