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Air cargo shipments fell in December, led by a decline in domestic shipments, but they climbed for the year, the Air Transport Association said Friday.

Big thunderstorms and tornadoes blew through central Florida Friday, killing as many as 19 people and causing accidents on interstates, including one that tossed a tractor-trailer airborne, news reports said.

The Institute for Supply Management’s January manufacturing index showed a contraction, as factories reined in orders to trim inventories, ISM said Thursday.

Consumer personal spending rose in December by the most in five months and personal incomes also rose, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

LAS VEGAS — Leading heavy-duty truck components manufacturers said technology exists today to build a safer, environmentally friendly and low-cost heavy-duty “world truck,” but major obstacles are consumer acceptance and the lack of a single global standard for emissions and safety technology.

Less-than-truckload carrier Saia Inc. said Thursday it has acquired Wisconsin-based LTL company Madison Freight Systems for about $2.5 million.

There were an estimated 3,336 for-hire trucking companies based in Canada with annual revenues of $1 million or more in the second quarter of 2006, almost unchanged from the same quarter in 2005, Statistics Canada said Thursday.

TSA Awards TWIC Contract to Lockheed Martin • Canada Passes Border Security Bill • Railroads to Get More Safety Scrutiny • EU Customs Chief Criticizes Cargo-Screening Measure

Hino Motors Ltd., Japan’s largest maker of heavy-duty trucks, saw its fiscal third-quarter profit drop 45% as the company spent more to develop new models and expand production, Bloomberg reported.

to write a Letter to the Editor.
WASHINGTON — Shippers would like to see a switch to larger trucks, and U.S. safety inspectors monitoring size-and-weight rules could have more technology at their disposal in the coming years, according to a Transportation Research Board panel discussion here.