A number of fleets are using technology and services from third-party providers to help manage driver screening and hiring processes. USIS is the largest provider of background screening services to the trucking industry and keeps information on more than five million drivers.

The number of new and used Class 8 trucks in operation in the United States increased 5.7% in 2005, pushed both by rising sales and by fleets’ keeping more used trucks in service, according to data from R.L. Polk & Co.

Easier access to more background information about driver applicants is allowing carriers to make more-informed hiring decisions, which reduces the risk of employing drivers who pose a safety or security threat.

Pickup and delivery, the grunt work of trucking, but also arguably the most important element of freight service, is undergoing a technological makeover.

Trucking and railroads, once bitter rivals, now find themselves working to keep up with surging freight volume by improving the flow of freight through the nation’s ports and rail terminals.

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor. xecutives with Germany’s Deutsche Post World Net said it could take three years to fully integrate the logistics operations of Exel PLC and DHL, but it already has extended the DHL brand to cover Exel’s logistics and forwarding businesses.

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor. img src="http://www.ttnews.com/images/printeditiontag_new.gif" width=120 align=right>A number of promising new safety systems designed to help drivers maintain vehicle control took center stage in 2005, as truck makers and fleet managers evaluated an array of emerging technologies with the potential to reduce the number of truck crashes.

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor. img src="http://www.ttnews.com/images/printeditiontag_new.gif" width=120 align=right>The number of freight-hauling trailers and container chassis put into service fell sharply in September, affecting the increase for the year’s first nine months to a nearly-flat 0.8%, according to data from R.L. Polk & Co.

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor. img src="http://www.ttnews.com/images/printeditiontag_new.gif" width=120 align=right>Strong freight-hauling demand and tight capacity allowed trucking companies to increase rates in 2005, but much of the income from those higher rates, executives said, was needed to cover rising costs for fuel, drivers and equipment.

Click here to write a Letter to the Editor. img src="http://www.ttnews.com/images/printeditiontag_new.gif" width=120 align=right>Stymied by a shortage of drivers and worried about the effect of rising costs for fuel and equipment, trucking companies are increasingly looking to add transportation services, such as freight brokerage, air and ocean forwarding, rail intermodal and warehousing as they expand and diversify their service.