Small carriers planning to grow quickly should hire owner-operators rather than buy new trucks and grapple with driver shortages, according to a panel addressing small carrier issues.

Trucking companies and driver training schools opened hailing frequencies with each other during a landmark March 17 meeting organized by two national driver training groups. A transmission came in loud and clear: Better cooperation is needed among the parties.

Six months ago, Lana Batts said she wouldn’t have dreamed of being an executive for an Internet portal. But one day after her last public speech as president of the Truckload Carriers Association, on March 20, the grande dame of trucking was leading a press conference introducing Transportal, an Internet service she said is designed to help her former constituents operate more efficiently.

Both carriers and drivers lose financially from driver turnover, according to studies conducted for the Truckload Carriers Association.

The Professional Truck Driver Institute is heading into uncertain waters as its president departs for the private sector, and the organization develops a plan to stand on its own two feet.

Small carriers planning to grow quickly should hire owner-operators rather than buy new trucks and grapple with driver shortages, according to a panel addressing small carrier issues.

Federal regulators and industry lobbyists could soon be clashing over mandatory driver training, but for now trucking’s leaders worry while government officials remain mum.

Trucking companies and driver training schools opened hailing frequencies with each other during a landmark March 17 meeting organized by two national driver training groups.

The Professional Truck Driver Institute is heading into uncertain waters as its president departs for the private sector, and the organization develops a plan to stand on its own two feet.

Six months ago, Lana Batts said she wouldn’t have dreamed of being an executive for an Internet portal. But now she's executive vice president for Transportal, an Internet service she said is designed to help her former constituents operate more efficiently.