#amazing #truck #trucking
The trucking industry[2] has affected the political and economic history of the United States in the 20th century. Before the invention of automobiles, most freight was moved by train or horse-drawn vehicle.
Trucks were first used extensively by the military during World War I. With the increase in construction of paved roads, trucking began to achieve a significant foothold in the 1930s. Public safety concerns made it necessary to implement various government regulations (such as the 1965 hours of service rule; recently revised with a compliance date of July 1, 2012) of how long drivers were allowed to work and drive each day/week. In 1956, Taxpayers provided funds to build the Interstate Highway System, an extensive network of highways and freeways that linked major cities across the continent.[3] The addition of Interstate Highway System also made it possible for the trucking industry to grow substantially in the late 1950s and early 1960s and trucking has come to dominate the freight industry in the latter portion of the 20th century.
Trucking achieved national attention during the 1960s and 70s, when songs and movies about truck driving were major hits. Truck drivers participated in widespread strikes against the rising cost of fuel, during the energy crises of 1973 and 1979. Congress deregulated the trucking industry with the passage of the Motor Carrier Act of 1980
Truck drivers are persons employed as the operator of a CMV. CMVs can be of varying shapes and sizes, from 10,000-pound (4,500 kg) pickup trucks assigned to haul specialized or small quantities of freight, all the way up to 105,500-pound (47,900 kg) semi-trailer trucks. Trucks are assigned a class rating based upon the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR). The facts in this section refer to drivers of "heavy duty" trucks (with a GVWR of at least 26,000 pounds (12,000 kg), which require a commercial driver's license to operate)