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Future U.S. economic vitality depends on an adequately funded rural road system that can accommodate heavier trucks, a South Dakota trucking company president told a Senate committee last week.

WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood an-nounced last week he will take steps to try to further curb distracting driving activities such as text messaging or using a cell phone or a Global Positioning System device.

Finance and leasing industry officials said a proposal to reclassify equipment leases as a form of debt or asset, rather than an expense, would be difficult and costly for most companies to comply with.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s decision to cut the maximum allowed stopping distance for large trucks by 30% will increase truck buyers’ costs somewhat, but will not force a widespread shift to new technology such as air disc brakes, industry groups and manufacturers said.

Harbor commissioners at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., are expected to approve a plan next month to spend $46.5 million in new grant funding from the state to fast-track the purchase of up to 500 new liquefied natural gas trucks, officials with both ports said.

HOUSTON — During the second half of 2007, when the U.S. economy and stock market were at their respective peaks, a colleague of James Crane said he was — for a brief while — bitter and unhappy. But as gross domestic product and the value of stocks, housing and other assets fell dramatically, the smile returned to Crane’s face as he realized the comfort of cash — hundreds of millions of dollars of it.

D.W. Morgan, a third-party logistics and supply chain consulting firm, has developed an iPhone application that the company said has helped it eliminate paper bills.

Ryder System said it has been certified as a third-party logistics provider in the Custom-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program, an initiative that seeks to promote supply chain security and reduce border vulnerabilities.

Diesel emission standards change again in January 2010, but unlike the previous modifications when all manufacturers used essentially the same emission-controlling technology, medium-duty truck buyers next year will have a choice of competing systems.