Trucking companies are starting sites of their own. But their emphasis is to use the Internet to create efficiencies that can be shared with customers. The Plano, Texas, company is already using the muscle of the six companies as well as that of more than 600 other smaller carriers that have signed up to negotiate joint purchases of equipment such as tires and to find loads to reduce empty trips. It's not about price itself. It's about increasing efficiency and utilization of the assets so both truck companies and customers can mutually benefit.
Drivers routinely spend weeks on the road separated from family and friends.
By helping them stay connected, the Internet can ease the isolation of the job, trucking executives say. That is true for the Hogans, who drive a red U.S. Xpress truck that increasingly resembles a technology node. It's equipped with electronic devices that help them shift gears and save time at truck weigh stations. And then there's the Web. In Georgetown, Ky., the Hogans turn into a truck stop and park next to one of the bright yellow boxes mounted on the pavement of the parking lot.