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The fine for texting or talking on a cell phone could become as high as $500 in New Jersey under a bill approved Monday by the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee.

The trucking industry received some of the best news possible last week, when the federal government announced that the number of fatalities in truck-involved crashes nosedived 20% during 2009.

Truck drivers who participated in a test of a five-year, mostly federally funded program to develop integrated crash warning systems said the prototype technology helped them avoid accidents, but they said the frequent false alarms were “annoyances.”

The number of people killed in large-truck crashes dropped 20% in 2009 to the lowest level on record, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

Garmin Ltd. recently recalled 796,000 Global Positioning System navigation units in the United States, but the company’s trucker-specific GPS navigation handheld was not affected, the company said.

Transport Topics Online will be closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday. Please check back on Tuesday, Sept. 7, for the latest trucking and freight transportation news.

Several trade groups told federal regulators that requiring more detailed information on applications for special permits to haul hazardous materials will not increase hazmat safety and will increase the paperwork burden on applicants.

Several trade groups told federal regulators that requiring more detailed information on applications for special permits to haul hazardous materials will not increase hazmat safety and will increase the paperwork burden on applicants.

Never mind the deliveries you want to make on time — the deliveries you don’t want to make at all may be the best reasons to invest in a navigation system designed specifically for commercial truck operations.

Orders for new trailers rose 74% in July over July 2009, pushing year-to-date levels ahead by the same percentage, ACT Research Co. reported.