Truck drivers spend long hours cooped up in small spaces, submit to drug tests and remain under constant surveillance — somebody always knows where they are.
Convicts in prison experience a similar situation, and that is why some Southern California trucking companies are interested in them when they get out of the Big House.
The carriers hope to give parolees a second chance and put more drivers in the seats of their trucks.
A 1997 study commissioned by American Trucking Associations and often cited in the industry concluded that trucking would need 80,000 new drivers every year to alleviate its driver shortage. The statistic has real significance for many companies.
For the full story, see the Sept. 11 print edition of Transport Topics. .
