������ý

UPS Inc. said that all U.S.-based sellers on eBay now have a direct, free connection from within that site to the UPS WorldShip system.

The number of Class 8 vehicles operating in the United States totaled 3.641 million units in the second quarter, an increase of less than 1% over the same quarter in 2008, transportation research firm R.L. Polk & Co. said.

Truck component maker Eaton Corp. said that it would provide the electric power systems for 378 Class 5 electric hybrid plug-in vehicles under a federal grant, which it called the “largest commercial hybrid deployment” ever.

U.S. Class 8 retail sales fell for the seventh consecutive month — this time by 32.9%, WardsAuto.com reported, and a market forecaster predicted that no substantial change is likely until the second half of next year.

Future U.S. economic vitality depends on an adequately funded rural road system that can accommodate heavier trucks, a South Dakota trucking company president told a Senate committee last week.

Commercial vehicle component maker Accuride Corp. said it lost $36.1 million, or $1 per share, in the second quarter, compared with a profit of $3.4 million, or 10 cents, a year ago.

Manufacturer ArvinMeritor Inc. said it lost $162 million in the April-to-June quarter, while also announcing last week it has found a buyer for its light-vehicle wheels business and has stepped up its marketing effort for truck disc and drum brakes ahead of the government’s new truck stopping-distance rule.

WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood an-nounced last week he will take steps to try to further curb distracting driving activities such as text messaging or using a cell phone or a Global Positioning System device.

There were no surprises in the new federal rule designed to improve the braking power of a standard, fully loaded, tractor-trailer by almost one-third.