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The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will hear public comments at the Mid-America Trucking Show next month about the potential that drivers using electronic onboard recorders could be harassed by the carriers they drive for.

Equity firm Audax Group on Monday announced it has acquired Phillips & Temro Industries, a manufacturer of heating, cooling and silencing products for heavy-duty truck engines. Terms were not dislosed.

With a federal mandate on the use of electronic onboard recorders looming over the trucking industry, U.S. carriers may be following a regulatory course similar to one that their European counterparts have been dealing with for several years.

Software providers Ortec and Xata Corp. have announced enhancements to Ortec Mobile, a routing and scheduling software for fleets.

Officials of brake manufacturer Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems said they are wrestling with the challenge of manufacturing and distributing replacement parts for a defective valve that could cause braking problems, which prompted federal and heavy-duty truck manufacturer recalls.

Xata Corp. on Thursday reported a fiscal first quarter loss of $1.7 million, or 16 cents per share, compared to a loss of $85,000, or one cent, a year ago.

WASHINGTON — Five manufacturers are on their way toward meeting the Department of Energy’s goal of increasing a truck’s efficiency by 50% under the agency’s SuperTruck program, a DOE official said.

Ryder System said it has launched RydeSmart 3.0, the next generation of RydeSmart, its onboard telematics system.