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WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood an-nounced last week he will take steps to try to further curb distracting driving activities such as text messaging or using a cell phone or a Global Positioning System device.

There were no surprises in the new federal rule designed to improve the braking power of a standard, fully loaded, tractor-trailer by almost one-third.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s decision to cut the maximum allowed stopping distance for large trucks by 30% will increase truck buyers’ costs somewhat, but will not force a widespread shift to new technology such as air disc brakes, industry groups and manufacturers said.

Iteris Inc., which makes lane-departure warning systems for the trucking industry, said Thursday its fiscal first-quarter profit decreased from a year ago.

In reference to the story, “Safeway Fleet Set to Fill Tires With Nitrogen,” which appeared July 6 on p. 8, I have been using nitrogen in my fleet since 2005. We have noticed that the tires stay at a constant pressure, and we have been able to get well over 250,000 miles out of our drive tires and 150,000 miles out of our steer tires.

Sprint Nextel Corp., the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier, plans to pay Ericsson AB as much as $5 billion to manage its networks, offloading the expense of running its own systems.

Third-party logistics firm Quiet Logistics has tripled the capacity in its Kiva Mobile Fulfillment System in less than six months, Kiva said.