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COLUMBUS, Ind. — Growth in North American sales will lead the global truck-making industry this year, as U.S. fleets are prospering along with their shipper customers in the manufacturing sector, economists said.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Permanent repair kits for defective ATR-6 traction-relay brake valves are moving to truck makers, executives of Bendix Commercial Vehicle System said.

Gene Scoggins, president of the NationaLease truck-leasing organization, is retiring after 37 years in the transportation industry.

Women now comprise more than half the working population and are visible in management and professional careers, and yet they still represent less than 4% of Fortune 500 CEOs, according to Catalyst, a nonprofit organization concerned with expanding opportunities for women in business.

At least one major motor carrier said it had a truck fire related to a defect in Detroit Diesel engines that was the subject of a recent recall, but other fleets using the Detroit engines made by Daimler Trucks North America either didn’t comment or said they had not experienced problems.

Celadon Trucking Services Inc.’s practice requiring pre-employment physical exams for drivers is the subject of a new lawsuit, in which the federal government said the exams violate a federal law prohibiting discrimination related to certain disabilities.

Although today’s handheld devices continue to become smaller, tougher and far more capable than their clunky, limited-application predecessors, manufacturers and officials at the freight companies that rely on them said the next technological developments will be influenced by what’s happening in the consumer market.

Most truck makers said they will make important announcements of new products this year at the Mid-America Trucking Show, including Peterbilt Motors Co.’s introduction of a new model.