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RALEIGH, N.C. — Jeffrey Schlecht, a 27-year-old rookie from Nebraska, staked his claim here as the grand champion of truck maintenance, pushing aside 102 other competitors, including three former SuperTech winners.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration last week said it will not require the next generation of electronic onboard recorders to use a different type of computer connection than current models, or to operate in temperature extremes beyond the capability of existing systems.

NEW YORK — Fleet executives warned that the continuing, though modest, rise in freight volumes won’t trigger an immediate surge in equipment orders.

Nearly 100 technicians will compete for national honors in truck maintenance next week in Raleigh, N.C., while fleet maintenance directors examine the details of the new federal CSA program, diesel particulate filters and the economic forecast for freight hauling.

Garmin Ltd. recently recalled 796,000 Global Positioning System navigation units in the United States, but the company’s trucker-specific GPS navigation handheld was not affected, the company said.

The U.S. economy’s service sector expanded in August, though its pace of growth slowed, the Institute for Supply Management said Friday.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is eyeing an even more expansive mandate for electronic onboard recorders than it indicated earlier this year, sources told Transport Topics.

U.S. manufacturing activity increased in August, the Institute for Supply Management said Wednesday.

Manufacturing activity in the Chicago region grew in August at the slowest pace since November, the Institute for Supply Chain Management-Chicago said Tuesday.