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SAN DIEGO — Qualcomm currently is developing an application for Android smart phones and tablets, a company official announced at Qualcomm’s Vision 2012 Management Conference.

Westport Innovations Inc. and Caterpillar Inc. last week announced plans to collaborate on the development of natural gas technology for mining and off-road trucks as well as for freight locomotives, marking the latest trend in the spread of natural gas as an alternative fuel source.

Trucking technology providers Vigillo and Magellan have launched new products designed to help carriers comply with safety regulations and improve navigation.

It’s these smaller motor carriers that should be closely watched to ensure compliance. The big-box carriers are doing good work to ensure they are at the level of safety and compliance required for good CSA scores.

In the end, your trucking operation’s success will be predicated, not on what analysts say, pro or con, or what Wall Street does tomorrow or next week but on your own strategies for controlling variable costs, executing the plan and staying firmly on course.

There’s been a lot of energy expended recently as the trucking industry pushes to get the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to adopt a reasonable crash accountability standard.

Faced with increasing criticism from the trucking industry, federal regulators are giving motor carriers more time to comment on how changes in new safety rules could affect their safety-measurement system scores, a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration spokeswoman said last week.

Motor carriers should be required to review 10 years of driving records for each new driver they hire, the National Transportation Safety Board said last week, citing its investigation of a 2011 bus crash that killed 15 people.

LANDOVER, Md. — Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance inspectors spent 72 hours in stepped-up trucking safety enforcement last week, pulling over trucks and buses on highways and at inspection locations throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.

U.S. Class 8 truck orders continued to slump in May, dropping 23% from year-ago levels and declining for the fifth consecutive month as economic, financial and regulatory uncertainty dampened fleets’ buying decisions, analysts said.