Safety

The U.S. economy’s service sector contracted in July for a second straight month, the Institute for Supply Management said Tuesday.

Oil prices continued to plunge Tuesday, falling more than $3 in early trading to $118 a barrel as a tropical storm did minimal damage in the Gulf of Mexico and speculation that slower economic growth will curb demand, Bloomberg reported.

Volvo Trucks North America said Monday it is now offering Bendix heavy-duty air disc brakes on Volvo VN and VT model trucks.

Iteris Inc. and Delphi Corp. said Monday that Iteris has been named the exclusive distributor of Delphi’s forward collision warning system for the North American commercial vehicle market.

The University of Minnesota’s Center for Transportation Studies found the state’s greenhouse gas emissions reductions goal of 30% by 2025 to be feasible and said that alternative fuels, vehicle fuel efficiency and reducing vehicle miles traveled were central to reaching the goal, the Associated Press reported.

Transportation and third-party logistics firm C.H. Robinson Worldwide said Monday it has acquired Transera International Holdings Ltd., a project forwarding company based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Declaring the current system irrevocably “broken,” Transportation Secretary Mary Peters unveiled the Bush administration’s final major surface transportation policy initiative — a reform of the highway program that includes unlimited tolling and an increased emphasis on private capital.

American Trucking Associations last week asked a federal court to block emission-reduction plans by the California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach that include concessionaire requirements the group said “unlawfully re-regulated the federally de-regulated trucking industry.”

The U.S. economic stimulus package and inventory replenishment by customers powered a 5.4% rise in truck tonnage during June compared with last year, the eighth consecutive monthly increase, American Trucking Associations said.