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Diesel engine maker Cummins Inc.’s emissions subsidiary will lay off about 100 workers at a Wisconsin plant, effective immediately, because of the slumping North American truck market, the company said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued its final rule requiring heavy-truck manufacturers to install onboard diagnostic systems starting in 2010 to alert drivers when engine emission systems are malfunctioning or deteriorating.

Navistar International Corp. will use federal emission credits to enable its new Class 8 engine to meet 2010 federal emission standards, although the engine could be set up to comply with the regulation without the credits, a Navistar executive said.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — ABF Freight System will use diesel engines with selective catalytic reduction technology starting in 2010, but the less-than-truckload carrier has not decided upon the truck maker it will use.

Prodded by soaring fuel prices and the contracting economy, shippers have spent most of 2008 trying to pare transportation spending to meet demands by company executives looking for antidotes to stagnant revenue growth.

When heavy-duty engines with selective catalytic reduction technology start rolling in 2010, truckers refilling their trucks’ urea tanks will need to follow strict guidelines to protect the product’s purity to avoid damaging the aftertreatment system, urea experts said.

Qualcomm Inc. added an in-cab scanning service to its mobile computing system, and launched a new reporting module designed to help carriers monitor how much fuel their drivers are burning, the company said last week.

ORLANDO, Fla. — A fuel-optimization module acquired 12 months ago has since become a leading growth product for software vendor TMW Systems, which held its annual user conference in the heart of this resort-rich peninsula last week.

From maintaining optimum air pressure to avoiding jack-rabbit starts, a truck driver’s actions affect not only the life expectancy of tires but also a vehicle’s fuel efficiency.

More than 1,500 truckers at the Port of Oakland, Calif., have applied for 1,000 subsidies to retrofit their trucks to reduce emissions, the San Francisco Business Times reported Monday.