Heavy Traffic: Deregulation, Trade, and Transformation in North American Trucking

Gordon C. Shaw is professor emeritus in the Faculty of Administrative
Studies at York University.

Heavy Traffic provides a detailed account of the changes that have
occurred in international trucking between Canada and the United States
from the mid–1970s to the present. Madar discusses the rationale for
the heavy regulation of trucking in both countries and the factors that
led to deregulation. He also describes how deregulation and the advent
of free trade resulted in virtually one international industry; this
industry, facilitated by the development of computerized logistics
systems, now permits highway transport to become just one component in
many integrated transport, inventory, and production systems (especially
in the case of autos).

Although trucking accounts for the largest proportion of total Canadian
transportation revenues, little has been written about the industry.
This well-written and extensively documented book therefore fills a gap
in the literature on transportation. (Of particular value is Madar’s
account of the demise of the national less-than-truckload carriers.)
Recommended for anyone interested in Canadian and international
trucking.