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img src="/sites/default/files/images/articles/printeditiontag_new.gif" width=120 align=right>It also holds another, and not quite so obvious, lesson - namely about how crucial a role trucking plays in keeping commerce moving.

Last week, as scores of freight-laden ships sat at anchor and as cross-country trains quit serving the biggest U.S. container ports at Los Angeles and Long Beach, long-haul trucks kept goods moving to factories and stores.

At this writing, it wasn't clear how long the port shutdown would last. But even if it ended after just a few days, it will take weeks to unravel the mess. Meanwhile, trucking kept the economy from starving - again.

For months, the freight-hauling community and the shippers they serve had warned that any disruption of the busy West Coast ports could soon hurt the broader supply chain for all sorts of businesses. Some retailers and manufacturers took precautions and stocked up in advance.

But when terminal operators — reacting to what they said was a labor slowdown from sparring over ongoing contract negotiations — actually closed the ports last week, the shutdown hit the economy faster than many expected.

Huge volumes of imports destined for Christmas shelves were caught and could not be moved, and huge volumes of U.S. exports suddenly had no way to get to Asia.

The wrangling threw thousands of short-haul truckers temporarily out of work around the 29 ports and began to distort fleet operations of long-haul trucking firms that move goods between major ports and customers in the nation's heartland.

The economy is too interwoven, and the trade flows too big, to think that trucking can avoid being hurt by a massive shutdown of major freight centers.

But such an emergency also shows how much the country will always need a strong, viable trucking industry.

More than a year ago when the country was attacked, freight customers found that trucking was the mode they could depend on. Last week's freight disruptions were painful, but they also were a good reminder. In a world where events outside trucking can suddenly threaten the economy, trucking delivers the goods.

This article appears in the Oct. 7 print edition of Transport Topics. .