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After improving along with most other equities during the last nine months of 2009, trucking stocks this year have done little more than tread water, with a good run from early February through late April sandwiched between two brief pull-backs by investors.

About the two May 17 “rate setting” letters: It’s important for trucking companies to understand that we are the ones who set the rates.

Amid the gyrations of the stock markets and the television talk-show discussions about a possible double-dip recession, virtually all business signs in the trucking industry show unmistakable movement toward recovery and expansion.

Air pollution at the Port of Long Beach, Calif., declined in 2009 for the third consecutive year, and diesel particulate matter has fallen more than 50% since 2005, in part because of the port’s clean truck program, port officials said

Truck stop chain Flying J Inc. said it has started accepting Comdata payment cards at its 270 U.S. and Canadian travel centers.

Despite occasional hyperventilation from advocacy groups and some politicians, trucking’s safety performance is steadily improving and the industry’s dedication to playing its part in keeping America’s highways safe should be unquestioned.

President Obama’s recent announcement that he was kicking off a major effort to improve the fuel efficiency of commercial vehicles was welcome news to the trucking industry.

What a difference a year makes: Just one year ago, trucking trade publications were reporting on truckload rates plummeting 27% over the previous year, trucking companies beating down shippers’ doors looking for business, carriers dealing with 50% to 100% excess capacity over the previous two years, and thousands of trucking companies going bankrupt.

Reading the May 24 “Opinion” column on how hard it would be for the smaller freight brokers to exist with a higher bond, my heart goes out to them, but my sympathies run with the trucking companies that use these brokers, small or large.