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A high-ranking federal safety regulator said truck-involved fatalities have been stuck at a “relatively flat” level for years, and that trend leads officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to recommend using “Buck Rogers”-style technologies to lower accident rates.

The average national price of retail diesel fuel held at $3.28 a gallon from a week ago, the Department of Energy said Monday.

Wholesale inventories rose 1.1% in December, though sales fell 0.7%, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Navteq Corp., a maker of maps used in transportation navigation, said its fourth-quarter profit rose to $61.9 million, or 61 cents per share, from $42.9 million, or 45 cents, a year earlier.

Truckload carrier P.A.M. Transportation Services said it lost $840,000, or 8 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, compared with net income of $4.3 million, or 41 cents, a year earlier.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Uncertainty about the life cycle of key emission control components and higher maintenance costs have emerged as the top concerns fleets have with 2007 heavy-duty diesel engines, maintenance and equipment heads at several major carriers said here.

If there is a silver lining in the current freight recession, it might be that the challenging economic environment is forcing carriers to focus more closely on business fundamentals to keep the bottom line healthy.

President Bush’s proposed Transportation Department budget for next year would increase DOT’s spending slightly but cut highway spending more than $2 billion from last year, and it proposes to borrow funds from mass transit to cover a shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund.