WASHINGTON — Debbie Hersman, President Obama’s choice to lead the National Transportation Safety Board, told a Senate committee that other transportation agencies should voluntarily adopt the board’s recommendations, and if they don’t, Congress should order them to.

Truck-related highway fatalities plummeted 12% in 2008 to 4,229, the lowest total since the federal government began keeping records, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

Schneider Logistics said it has sold its operations based in Olomouc, Czech Republic, to ExlService Holdings, an outsourcing company.

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

The Canadian Auto Workers said it has rejected a proposal from Navistar International Corp. to keep the company’s Chatham, Ontario, heavy-duty truck plant open, while a Navistar spokesman said the plant will remain closed until a new labor agreement is reached.

The U.S. heavy-duty fleet truck fleet is aging as carrier executives scrimp to cut costs wherever they can amid the continuing national freight drought.

The number of Americans killed in truck-related crashes fell 12% in 2008 to 4,229, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

Transportation and logistics firm Amerijet International said it will acquire a majority interest in Nations Express.

UPS Inc. has extended its vehicle logistics services contract with Ford Motor Co. through the end of 2012.