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February 3, 1999 10:30 AM, EST

PORTLAND, Ore. — The trucking industry should trade government-sought safety enhancements for the right to increase productivity, James Hebe, chief executive officer of Freightliner Corp. said Tuesday.

In a press conference at the corporation’s Portland headquarters, Hebe said he is talking about "active — not passive — safety."

"The industry and government can work together in a trade-off between safety and productivity," he said.

Hebe emphasized that, in discussing productivity, he was talking about sizes and weights — "absolutely."

"We got in trouble before because of the length of the trailer," he said, "I don’t care how long it is, but we have to learn how to do this. Suppose we say: We can talk about ABS or some other system, but we need to get the productivity."

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