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It could have been the title of a new horror extravaganza from Steven King: “Killer Trucks.” Think of it. Maniacal, masked marauders perched behind the wheels of gigantic semis, preying on innocent VW bugs and station wagons full of smiling children. Unfortunately, “Killer Trucks” wasn’t playing at your neighborhood cinema, it was on the editorial page of the Washington Post.

A congressman from Washington’s Virginia suburbs and the Washington Post editorial page in recent days have been involved in a tag-team match smearing the trucking industry’s safety record.

While the ATA Management Conference & Exhibition produced no major policy pronouncements, there was considerable activity behind the scenes on a number of important issues.

What is the biggest risk management issue facing trucking today? Drivers, no doubt, according to a survey by Liberty Mutual Group.

Truck sales hit record highs this summer, leading some industry analysts to raise eyebrows that the market may be headed toward another period of too much trucking capacity for the market.

How well you do in trucking depends on how well your customers are doing.

Freight distribution systems can be optimized electronically no matter what the size of the trucking or shipping company, a pair of experts told the Oct. 26 general session of the ATA Management Conference.

The lawyer who sued “Dateline NBC” for defamation and fraud on behalf of a Maine trucking company and driver Peter Kennedy said he used the correspondent’s and producer’s own words and pictures to prove his case.

For intermodal truckers, all eyes are on South Carolina, where a new law makes equipment providers responsible for maintenance and repair of chassis and trailers hauled by truckers.

The truck of the future will not only practically drive itself, it will be less expensive to operate and provide carriers with greater flexibility for a wider range of uses, according to position papers presented at the Oct. 27 session, “Defining the Future Truck..