DEREGULATION OF THE TRUCKING SECTOR - SPECIALIZATION, CONCENTRATION, ENTRY, AND FINANCIAL DISTRESS

Deregulation of the US motor carrier industry began with changes in administrative practice of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) in September 1978; the process was ratified and codified in the Motor Carrier Act of 1980. Part 2 of this paper discusses the source of scale economies in the trucking industry. Part 3 discusses the rapid conversion of the industry into a much more concentrated industry than it was under regulation. Part 4 describes the main benefits from developments in the trucking industry and notes how they are primarily based on unmeasurable or difficult-to-measure changes. The conclusion argues that the enthusiastic response to trucking deregulation by the economics profession was not due to demonstrable efficiency gains, though they are probably significant, but the income redistribution that was brought about by deregulation was fair. -from Author