Bumpy road ahead for US trucking industry

Washington

IT has been 30 years since Burt Reynolds starred in Smokey and the Bandit and made driving a rig on the open highway seem like a cool way to make a living. That same year, only Star Wars sold more tickets.

These days, Star Wars still fills theatres but trucking no longer captures the imagination of movie goers or, it turns out, the young and unemployed. Veteran drivers are leaving the profession, and young people entering the workforce are put off by long hours away from home and the profession's low-brow image. The result is a US trucking industry with high turnover and a dwindling number of new recruits.