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PITTSBURGH — Facing the prospect of having to replace tens of thousands of technicians in the coming years, officials from the trucking and fleet maintenance industries have urged companies to work closely with educators as one way to attract new talent.

Where warehouse dockworkers once had to go to a supervisor’s window for their assignments, advanced software has eliminated this and other long-standing procedures — turning the process of managing distribution centers into a faster, better-coordinated system, users and vendors said.

PITTSBURGH — Christopher Barnett Sr. of Ryder System Inc., who did not place first in any individual event at SuperTech 2012, was named trucking’s top technician after a strong performance on the written test and at the 17 skill stations that are part of the premier contest.

Developers of Web-based, transactional freight exchanges believe their services can shepherd in an era of one-stop shopping for moving cargo, where deals are made without so much as a phone call.

Qualcomm Inc. has released a new edition of Trailer Tracks 210, which now includes a solar charging system designed to preserve uptime and battery life, the company announced Sept. 5.

Trucking companies once were happy if an asset-tracking system could simply identify a truck’s location on a map.

Rand McNally Co., Skokie, Ill., said it has introduced a software upgrade for its IntelliRoute TND 510 truck GPS unit, which includes updated map data and additional trucking points of interest.

The California Air Resources Board has approved changes that give heavy-duty diesel engine manufacturers more time to comply with “technology forcing” regulations that require advances to engine onboard diagnostics systems that monitor nitrogen oxide emissions levels and particulate matter filter and sensor malfunctions.

Let me understand you correctly: If a driver runs out of time 30 minutes from the yard and is on an electronic onboard recorder, “He either spends the night 20 miles from home or, more likely, breaks the law and comes to the yard anyway.”