As recently as 20 years ago, the average man or woman on the street would hear the words “truck driver,” and chances are the next word to come to mind would be “Teamsters.” The profession and the union were that closely tied. But times have changed.

As recently as 20 years ago, the average man or woman on the street would hear the words “truck driver,” and chances are the next word to come to mind would be “Teamsters.”

In an industry like trucking, which is famous for its tenuous profit margins, cutting expenses has become a fine art. Nearly every dollar that can be shaved from the cost column shows up in the net earnings column, so commercial motor carriers large and small have found inventive ways of taking expenses that at one time looked “fixed” — and unfixing them.

In an industry like trucking, which is famous for its tenuous profit margins, cutting expenses has become a fine art. Nearly every dollar that can be shaved from the cost column shows up in the net earnings column, so commercial motor carriers large and small have found inventive ways of taking expenses that at one time looked “fixed” — and unfixing them.

What do we know about Mexican motor carriers operating in this country, and when did we know it?

What do we know about Mexican motor carriers operating in this country, and when did we know it? The answer to the first question is “not much.” The answer to the second is “a while ago.”

Something about government programs gets some people spitting mad, and in trucking, probably nothing draws a bigger shower of brickbats than the inspection stops that go on in each state.

When you call and get put on hold with Commercial Driver Training Inc. in West Babylon, N.Y., you don’t have to listen to a Muzak version of “New York, New York” or a tape-looped woman swearing your call is important to her. Instead, the hold message is an upbeat sermon about how you can turn your life around by becoming a professional truck driver — if you sign on with CDT.

The federal government fleshed out its rhetoric on highway safety Feb. 7, when it announced it was seeking a 54% increase in funding for fiscal 2001 — to $279 million from $181 million this year — for its newly formed motor carrier safety agency.

The federal government is looking into the adequacy of truck parking facilities again, conducting a nationwide survey of truck drivers to gauge their parking needs.