No one can deny that 2005 was a rocky year for the Trucking Industry and it seems to be fairly easy to say that 2006 will be another year of both challenge and change. But there are some positive aspects in all of this too. For instance the robust economy had freight up over the year and much of the surge in Diesel prices were passed on to the shipping and trucking company customers and they were not as effected by all this as you might think. The DOTs hours of operation rules and regulations were postponed, as it looked rather catastrophic for some trucking companies due to the way their terminals were spaced out along with the fact of lack of adequate overnight truck parking in the country while there were more trucks on the road than any other time in US History. Truck per mile driven accident statistics were down as well in 2005

In 2005 more small trucking companies went out of business, due to the efficiency of the larger trucking companies taking advantage of economies of scale and increased enforcement and highway road taxes and fees. Many also blamed the greater number of Mexican trucks on the road, although in 2006 we will see a tightening of Mexican trucks here in the United States and increased regulations. The sulfur in diesel fuel elimination will help truck engine manufacturers greatly with the introduction of cleaner engines. New truck sales will also pick up for this reason while hurting used truck sale prices while those trucks end up in Mexico, Central and South America. Some of these Mexican trucks will end up using our highways to deliver in the United States anyway, thus the pollution will be back, as critics of the new sulfur less diesel fuel complain.

In 2006 we will also see more supply diesel price spikes and these fuel costs and rail road competition will reach a cross roads in that the railroads are at maximum on many regional routes and cannot take much more freight and thus the remainder will have to go by truck. DOT regulatory issues may be a challenge as you never know what kind of BS a regulator or bureaucratic mess like that might come up with to kill and industry sector. 2006 will also see more technology come into play in the industry for instance automatic shut off systems for stolen truck loads or hazardous material tanker trucks which have been hijacked. We will also see more use of simulators to train truck drivers like the airline industry used. We will see more trucking terminals, which set up fuel cell pumping stations and point-to-point strategies, thus conserving costs in fuel. 2006 will usher in new truck aerodynamics designs and research and development on the first viable robotic convoys for military use. New materials and corrosion control coatings will be introduced in 2006.

Other good news will be issued by the DOT and in NTSB reports lowering of trucking accidents, fewer deaths and proof that four-wheelers (cars in trucking lingo) are indeed heeding the warnings and listening to the PR of the National and American Trucking Association with regard to No Zones or truck blind spots. Thus we will also see many more awards for truck driver safety to the biggest trucking companies and Wal-Mart transportation, with a far superior trucking safety record, due to their thousands of experienced and quality drivers. So these are what is on the road ahead in the trucking industry; think on this in 2006.