<PAGE>   1

                                                                   EXHIBIT 10.52

                                   AMENDMENT
                                       TO
                              EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
                                       OF
                                  LORRI PALKO



     THIS AMENDMENT made as of this ___ day of January, 2000 by and between
DORSEY TRAILERS, INC. (the "Company") and LORRI PALKO ("Executive");

                                  WITNESSETH:

     WHEREAS, the Company and Executive entered into an Employment Agreement,
dated as of November 17, 1997 (the "Employment Agreement"), providing for the
terms and conditions of Executive's employment by the Company as its President
and Chief Operating Officer; and

     WHEREAS, the Company has recently named a new Chief Executive Officer, and,
effective July 1, 2000, the Company will likely name a new President and Chief
Operating Officer or eliminate the position; and

     WHEREAS, the Company desires for Executive to remain employed as its
President and Chief Operating Officer through June 30, 2000; and

     WHEREAS, the parties now desire to amend the Employment Agreement in the
manner hereinafter provided;

     NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises and the mutual covenants
and agreements contained herein and in the Employment Agreement, the parties
hereby agree, as follows:

     1.  Section 1(b) of the Employment Agreement is hereby amended by deleting
said section in its entirety and substituting in lieu thereof the following:
<PAGE>   2
          (b)     The initial term of Executive's employment under this
     Agreement shall be the period commencing on November 17,1997 and ending on
     December 31, 1999 (the "Initial Term"). The term of Executive's employment
     shall be extended, for the next succeeding 6-month period, commencing on
     January 1, 2000 and ending on June 30, 2000 (the "Extended Term"). For
     purposes of this Agreement, the Initial Term and the Extended Term shall be
     referred to collectively as the "Term." If Executive remains employed by
     the Company after the expiration of the Term, she shall be considered an
     "at will" employee and her duties and terms of condition of employment
     shall be determined by the Board. Until the date that Executive's
     employment terminates under the Agreement, Executive shall continue to be
     employed by the Company as provided in Section 1(a) hereof and to receive
     the benefits and compensation provided in Section 2 hereof; provided,
     notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Base Salary level in
     effect as of December 15, 1999 shall not be reduced during the remainder of
     Executive's employment under the Agreement.

     2.     Section 3 of the Employment Agreement is hereby amended by
deleting said section in its entirety and substituting in lieu thereof the
following:

     3.    Retention and Termination Benefits.

          (a)     Subject to Executive's rights to receive the compensation and
     benefits under this Section 3, the Company shall have the right to
     terminate Executive's employment at any time, and payments of compensation
     and benefits under Section 2 for periods after her termination date shall
     cease. If Executive remains employed by the Company hereunder through June
     30, 2000, whether or not her employment with the Company ends as of such
     time, or if Executive's employment is terminated before June 30, 2000 other
     than (i) by the Company for

                                        2

<PAGE>   3
     Cause (as defined in subsection (e)(i) hereof), (ii) upon Executive's
     Disability (as defined in subsection (e)(iii) hereof) or death, or (iii) by
     Executive without Good Reason (as defined in subsection (e)(iv) hereof),
     the Company (A) no later than the later of (x) 7 days after her employment
     is terminated or (y) 2 days after the last day of the revocation period for
     her release of the Company (as described in subsection (d) hereof), shall,
     subject to Executive's compliance with Section 4 of the Agreement, pay to
     Executive a lump-sum amount equal to one year's Base Salary as in effect on
     the last day of her employment hereunder; (B) effective as of July 1, 2000,
     shall cause 35,000 unvested option (or such lesser number as are then
     unvested) of the outstanding stock options granted to Executive by the
     Company to become fully vested and immediately exercisable and shall cause
     the term of the 90,000 options granted to Executive (or such lesser number
     as Executive then holds) to be extended for the five-year period commencing
     on July 1, 2000; and (C) if Executive's employment with the Company has
     terminated, shall provide Executive with the benefits described in
     subsection (b) hereof.

     (b)     The health and group term life insurance benefits coverage in
     effect at the date of Executive's termination shall be continued at the
     same level and in the same manner as if Executive had continued her
     employment, beginning on the date of Executive's termination and ending on
     the date 12 months from the date of Executive's termination. Any additional
     coverages Executive had at termination, including dependent coverage (but
     no supplemental executive medical coverage), will also be continued for
     such period on the same terms, to the extent permitted by the applicable
     policies or contracts. Any costs Executive was paying for such coverages at
     the time of termination shall be paid by Executive through monthly
     deductions from the amount payable hereunder or, if such withholding cannot
     be done on a monthly basis, by separate check payable to the Company each
     month in advance.

                                       3




<PAGE>   4


         (c)  If, prior to June 30, 2000, a Change of Control occurs and
Executive's employment is terminated after, or coincidentally with, such Change
in Control (i) by the Company, other than for Cause, Disability or death, or
(ii) by Executive for Good Reason, Executive shall be entitled: (A) to continue
to receive her Base Salary and health and group term life insurance benefits as
if she had remained actively employed through June 30, 2000; and (B) to receive
on June 30, 2000 the retention and termination benefits provided in subsections
(a) and (b) as if she had remained employed through June 30, 2000.

         (d)  To be entitled to any of the compensation and benefits described
above in this Section 3, Executive shall sign a release in favor of the Company
in the form attached to this Agreement as Exhibit A.  No payment shall be made
under this Section 3 until such release has been properly executed and delivered
to the Company and until the expiration of the revocation period, provided under
the release. If the release is not properly executed by Executive and delivered
to the Company within the reasonable time period specified in the release, the
Company's obligations under this Section 3 will terminate.

         (e)  For purposes of this Agreement, the following definitions shall
apply:

              (i)  "Cause" -- For purposes of this Agreement, the term "Cause"
shall mean:

         (A) Executive's fraud, malfeasance, gross negligence, or willful
misconduct with respect to the business affairs of the Company, (B) Executive's
refusal or repeated failure to follow the established reasonable and lawful
policies of the Company, (C) Executive's failure to follow the directions and
business decisions of the Chief Executive Officer of the Company, (D) conviction
of a felony or crime involving moral turpitude, or (E) Executive's making any
false and malicious oral or written statement to a third party which (1) is
disparaging to the Company, its officers, directors, employees, affiliates


                                       4

<PAGE>   5




          (including TruckBay.com, Inc. or its affiliates, "TruckBay"), or their
          practices, and which causes material damages to the Company or
          TruckBay; or (2) materially interferes with or materially impairs the
          Company's normal business operations or the operations of TruckBay, or
          the Company's relationship with its customers, dealers or suppliers,
          and causes material damages to the Company or TruckBay; or (3)
          materially interferes with or materially impairs any efforts by
          management of the Company to effectuate a sale of the Company or
          substantially all of its assets.

              A termination of Executive for Cause based on clause (B) or (C) of
          the preceding paragraph shall take effect 30 days after Executive
          receives from the Company written notice of intent to terminate,
          including the Company's description of the alleged cause, unless
          Executive shall, during such 30-day period, remedy the events or
          circumstances constituting Cause.

              Any termination of Executive for Cause under clause (E) must be
          made by action of a Committee comprised of the Chief Executive Officer
          of the Company and the members of the Board other than the Chairman of
          the Board, all determined as of January 1, 2000, and may only become
          effective after Executive has been given 30 days' written notice of
          such termination and a hearing has been held before said Committee
          during which evidence of Executive's alleged violation of Clause (E)
          will be presented, and Executive will have an opportunity to challenge
          and refute such evidence and question any witnesses. Executive shall
          have the right to have an attorney represent her at the hearing. If,
          after such hearing, the Committee determines that the Executive is to
          be terminated for Cause under clause (E), Executive shall have the
          right to a denovo determination of the issue by arbitration
          administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its


                                       5
<PAGE>   6
         Commercial Arbitration Rules. During the arbitration, no deference
         shall be given to the decision or findings of the Committee. Any
         decision rendered by such arbitration may be entered in any court
         having jurisdiction thereof. The Company will pay all costs and
         expenses of the arbitration, except the costs and expenses of
         Executive's counsel (which Executive may later recover if the
         arbitrator rules in her favor). The parties will select one arbitrator
         in accordance with the AAA rules. Until the earlier of the date a final
         ruling is issued by the arbitrator or June 30, 2000, the Company shall
         continue to pay Executive her monthly Base Salary and to provide her
         with the benefits described in Section 3(b), and after such date,
         Executive's compensation (but not her benefits) shall cease pending the
         arbitration decision; provided, if the arbitrator rules in favor of the
         Company, Executive shall repay to the Company the aggregate of all
         amounts of Base Salary paid to her for periods after the effective date
         of her termination through June 30, 2000, and if the arbitrator rules
         in favor of Executive, subject to Executive's execution of the release
         described in subsection (d) above, the Company shall pay and award the
         Executive all compensation and benefits that would have been due under
         Section 3 if she had remained employed through June 30, 2000 (with
         interest at the rate of 8% per annum from June 30, 2000 until the
         payment date on the lump sum amount payable under 3(a)(A) above), less
         the aggregate amount of Base Salary paid to Executive with respect to
         periods after her termination of employment and until June 30, 2000,
         and shall pay the reasonable attorneys' fees and expenses incurred by
         Executive in connection with resolving the dispute based under clause
         (E). As used in clause (E), the term "third party" shall include
         parties that are not affiliated with the Company or its affiliates
         (including TruckBay), and shall also include employees of the Company
         and the employees of the Company's


                                       6
<PAGE>   7


          affiliates (including TruckBay), but shall not include the Chief
          Executive Officer or the Directors of the Company.

               (ii)  "Change in Control" - a Change in Control shall be deemed
          to have occurred (A) upon consummation of a merger, consolidation or
          other business combination of the Company with any other "person" (as
          such term is used in Section 13(d) and 14(d) of the Securities
          Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) or affiliate thereof, other than a
          merger, consolidation or business combination which would result in
          the outstanding common stock of the Company immediately prior to such
          transaction continuing to represent (either by remaining outstanding
          or by being converted into common stock of the surviving entity or a
          parent or affiliate thereof) at least fifty percent (50%) of the
          outstanding common stock of the Company or such surviving entity or
          parent or affiliate thereof outstanding immediately after such
          merger; or (B) if more than 25% of the then outstanding shares of
          Common Stock of the Company are, in a single transaction or in a
          series of related transactions, sold or otherwise transferred to or
          are acquired by (except as collateral security for a loan) any other
          corporation, association or other person, entity or group, whether or
          not any such shareholder or any shareholders included in such group
          were shareholders of the Company prior to the Change in Control
          (excluding any shareholder who on the date hereof owns 25% or more of
          the outstanding shares of Common Stock of the Company); or (C) if all
          or substantially all of the assets of the Company are sold or
          otherwise transferred to or otherwise acquired by any other
          corporation, association or other person, entity or group; or (D) if
          during any period of two consecutive years, individuals who at the
          beginning of such period constitute the Board, cease for any reason to
          constitute at least a majority thereof, unless the election of

                                       7

<PAGE>   8
         each new director was approved in advance by a vote of at least a
         majority of the directors then still in office who were directors at
         the beginning of the period.

              (iii)  "Disability" or "Disabled" -- Executive's absence from his
         duties on a full-time basis for 180 consecutive business days as a
         result of incapacity due to physical or mental illness or injury.

              (iv)   "Good Reason" -- For the purposes of this Agreement, "Good
         Reason" shall mean: (A) a material breach of this Agreement by the
         Company which is not corrected within 30 days of notice of such breach
         by Executive; (B) any significant demotion of Executive to a different
         position; (C) any significant reduction in Executive's
         responsibilities or job duties; or (D) the officers or directors of the
         Company or any affiliate (including TruckBay) make any false and
         malicious oral or written statement to a third party which is
         disparaging to Executive and which causes material damages to
         Executive.

    4.  This Amendment shall be effective as of January 1, 2000. Except as
hereby modified, the provisions of the Employment Agreement shall remain in full
force and effect.

    IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Amendment as of the date
first written above.

                                      EXECUTIVE:

                                      -------------------------------
                                      Lorri Palko



                                      COMPANY:
                                      DORSEY TRAILERS, INC.
                                      BY:
                                         ----------------------------

                                       8