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August is our favorite month. It’s usually a relaxed time of year, when most people take vacations and kick back a little before rushing back into the thick of things. The seasonal shipping crush usually begins to take shape in September, so August feels a bit like the lull before the storm.

The 2010 edition of the Transport Topics Top 100 For-Hire Carriers shows us just how bad 2009 was for the motor carrier industry, but it also illustrates the recovery that took hold in the first half of this year.

The results from the Roadcheck 2010 safety blitz reinforce the message that trucking takes safety compliance seriously.

While Wall Street continues to express its doubts about the strength of the U.S. economic recovery that is under way, most trucking companies say that business is continuing to improve.

The proposal for revamping the federal government’s hours-of-service rule for truck drivers that a coalition of interest groups released recently illustrates just how little these political theorists understand about highway safety and the business of moving America’s freight.

This week’s issue of Transport Topics includes some interesting news about the federal government’s new safety regime for trucking, Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010, including that the program is going to be renamed.

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.

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.

Clearly, apprehension over the potential ramifications of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s new truck safety ratings program is growing as we move closer to full implementation of the plan.