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Consumer personal spending rose in December by the most in five months and personal incomes also rose, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

LAS VEGAS — Leading heavy-duty truck components manufacturers said technology exists today to build a safer, environmentally friendly and low-cost heavy-duty “world truck,” but major obstacles are consumer acceptance and the lack of a single global standard for emissions and safety technology.

Less-than-truckload carrier Saia Inc. said Thursday it has acquired Wisconsin-based LTL company Madison Freight Systems for about $2.5 million.

There were an estimated 3,336 for-hire trucking companies based in Canada with annual revenues of $1 million or more in the second quarter of 2006, almost unchanged from the same quarter in 2005, Statistics Canada said Thursday.

TSA Awards TWIC Contract to Lockheed Martin • Canada Passes Border Security Bill • Railroads to Get More Safety Scrutiny • EU Customs Chief Criticizes Cargo-Screening Measure

Hino Motors Ltd., Japan’s largest maker of heavy-duty trucks, saw its fiscal third-quarter profit drop 45% as the company spent more to develop new models and expand production, Bloomberg reported.

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WASHINGTON — Shippers would like to see a switch to larger trucks, and U.S. safety inspectors monitoring size-and-weight rules could have more technology at their disposal in the coming years, according to a Transportation Research Board panel discussion here.

U.S. construction spending fell 0.4% December, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

The National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago’s manufacturing index fell in January to the first contraction since April 2003, NAPM said Wednesday.

The U.S. economy expanded at a 3.5% annual rate in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department said Wednesday, the strongest since last year’s first quarter.