Halloween was only just a few weeks ago, and Thanksgiving is not quite here yet, but planning for Christmas in the nation’s capital is already well underway. And the trucking industry will play an even bigger part in bringing the official Christmas tree to Washington, D.C. this year than in year‘s past.

Nobody follows the fortunes of the freight industry more closely than investment analysts, so trucking executives were dismayed when this summer the venerable investment firm Stifel, Nicolaus & Co put out a report entitled The Story of Our General Lack of Love for the Truckload and Intermodal Stocks. The gist of the report was that depsite years of being “a cheerleader” for the trucking industry, the firm could not recommend a single trucking stock.

6. Communication. This is not just what is said or heard. You need to maintain a paper trail on all aspects of your trucking business. If it’s said and it’s important, write it down: who you talked with, when you talked with them, what was said by all parties, what was the final agreement, and if it’s extremely important, have everyone sign the document. Just because it’s spoken doesn’t mean it will be remembered. Don’t assume everyone is on top of any situation.

We recently talked about using auxiliary power units (APU’s) to power up small appliances on board your truck. Now, what should you buy to fill up your mini-refrigerator or zap in your microwave so eating on the go is not only convenient, but also inexpensive and tasty?

When we think of a trick, we think of pranks we played on unsuspecting individuals when we were young (or maybe it’s something we pulled yesterday), but the context in which we want to talk about ‘Tricks’ here is techniques or actions that can improve a person’s life. Trucking tricks are kept under wraps because of the solitary nature of the business—a trucker is provided with a truck, a set of keys, a product or item to haul, a place to load and a location where he needs to deliver the load. All of this creates an atmosphere where sharing knowledge with others is limited.

Signs are showing that highways are getting a little safer: Transportation-related fatalities have fallen for the third consecutive year, according to preliminary data from the National Transportation Safety Board.

New feature allows Getloaded.com members to create and save load & truck templates, reducing post time and eliminating hassle

The Obama Administration will reconsider the current hours-of-service rule that allows long haul drivers to drive for up to 11 hours straight.

MIDLOTHIAN, Va., October 28, 2009 – Getloaded.com, an online freight matching service for the trucking industry, offers another value priced combination of services “Combo Silver” expanding the options for carrier and broker customers that combines the premium “broker” and “trucker” packages plus new products. The total value for all of these features separately is $330, but Getloaded.com is offering it to new account holders and existing account holders for $175, a more than $150 savings.