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ATLANTA — Meritor WABCO demonstrated its new automatic braking system for heavy-duty trucks that is integrated with its anti-lock braking and stability control systems. Executives said the system can cut accident rates, especially rear-end collisions, which account for nearly 20% of all truck-involved crashes.

Navistar International Corp. will use federal emission credits to enable its new Class 8 engine to meet 2010 federal emission standards, although the engine could be set up to comply with the regulation without the credits, a Navistar executive said.

Retail sales fell 2.8% in October, the biggest drop on record, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Heavy-duty truck and trailer parts aftermarket distributor FleetPride Inc. said Monday it acquired E.H. Burrell Co., a distributor of original equipment manufacturer and aftermarket parts serving western Oregon and southwest Washington state.

Prodded by soaring fuel prices and the contracting economy, shippers have spent most of 2008 trying to pare transportation spending to meet demands by company executives looking for antidotes to stagnant revenue growth.

When heavy-duty engines with selective catalytic reduction technology start rolling in 2010, truckers refilling their trucks’ urea tanks will need to follow strict guidelines to protect the product’s purity to avoid damaging the aftertreatment system, urea experts said.

Heavy-duty truck sales in the United States grew for the fourth straight month in September, but year-to-date results remained weak and the recent national economic chaos led to a sharp drop in new orders during September.

Ryder System said it will acquire Transpacific Container Terminal Ltd. and CRSA Logistics Ltd., as well as CRSA’s operations in Hong Kong and Shanghai, China.

ORLANDO, Fla. — A fuel-optimization module acquired 12 months ago has since become a leading growth product for software vendor TMW Systems, which held its annual user conference in the heart of this resort-rich peninsula last week.