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When we read or watch news reports concerning the devastation caused by natural disasters, we usually are able to relate to the tragedies on a human level.

It took years for the trucking industry to get Congress to place responsibility for intermodal freight chassis road worthiness in the correct place. In 2005, legislators specified that the providers of the equipment — and not the fleets that were using them to move freight — had to ensure that the units met all safety standards.

The truck-involved fatality rate on the nation’s highways has hit a new low in the latest data provided by the Department of Transportation.

While the U.S. economy continues to look better and better in many ways, there are some pretty powerful reasons for truckers to remain cautious, or at least watchful in the coming months.

The 40th edition of the Mid-America Trucking Show was the most joyful trucking event in recent years, as smiling truckers were greeted by even happier equipment suppliers in frigid Louisville, Ky., last week.

It seems that a consensus is developing in the trucking industry to support electronic devices that monitor the number of hours that drivers work behind the wheel.

Fuel prices have now jumped so high that we all need to pay close attention. Not that we can do much about these skyrocketing prices, except pay and grumble.

Just as the U.S. economy seems to be growing some serious muscle, international events are threatening to intervene in what has become a period of steady business improvement.

OK, now we’ve said it again: Leave the current hours-of-service rule alone because it has proven its value for promoting safety while allowing the freight transportation industry to continue moving the nation’s freight.

The price of diesel fuel, the lifeblood of the trucking industry, took another step up last week, the 10th week in a row that truckers have had to pay more to keep the freight — and the U.S. economy — moving.