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The roster of players in the truckload sector of the industry will continue changing drastically this year, according to a survey of stock analysts who follow trucking.

With both the manufacturing and retail sectors signaling a crunch in December, and with more trucking and other transportation companies warning in January about rising losses as their customers retrench, the Federal Reserve should cut interest rates another half-point at the end of this month.

If ever there was a time to hone productivity, it is now. With fuel costs through the roof and cash in short supply, fleet managers strain to wring the last ounce of productivity from every asset in the fleet. ell, maybe not every asset.

With FedEx Corp.’s flag now planted squarely in the less-than-truckload sector, industry speculation has turned toward arch-competitor United Parcel Service for the next likely move.

A detailed human-factors analysis of three fatal truck accidents in Canada adds weight to the argument that improving driver safety performance is extremely complex and that highly variable factors such as time since the driver last ate a meal should get more attention.

The North American Free Trade Agreement arbitration panel ruling on the U.S.-Mexico cross-border trucking dispute will release its report on Feb. 5. The report, believed to find the U.S. violated Nafta by refusing to allow Mexican trucks to enter the country, was expected by Jan. 10.

President-elect George W. Bush named Norman Y. Mineta, a former chairman of the House Public Works and Transportation Committee, to head the Department of Transportation.

Consolidated Freightways Corp., the largest trucking company that wasn’t a member of American Trucking Associations, rejoined the national trade organization last week.

Intrenet Inc. — one of the nation’s largest flatbed operators and No. 52 on the Transport Topics 100 list — is closing up shop and shutting down its four trucking carriers..