The truck driver shortages of 1983 and 2004 could be dwarfed by what's coming by 2012, in the view of Tom Nightingale, chief marketing officer at Con-way. New hours-of-service rules and CSA 2010 are doing nothing to help that situation. Still, there are ways to prepare for the crunch.

As new government regulations intensify the transportation capacity crunch, non-asset-based brokers will be even more hard pressed to find equipment for their customers, says Mike Williams, chief operating officer at Sunteck Transport Group. That could weed out fly-by-night operators that sometimes give the industry a bad rep.

A highly effective way to get needed relief to victims of natural disasters is by marshaling the employees, equipment and expertise of logistics service providers, says Cliff Otto, president of Saddle Creek Corporation. That's the mission of ALAN, the American Logistics Aid Network.