Eads Moving & Storage

In the 20th century, the 1940 film "They Drive by Night" co-starred Humphrey Bogart. He plays an independent driver struggling to becomefinanciallystable andeconomicallyindependent. This is all set during the times of the Great Depression. Yet another film was released in 1941, called "The Gang's All Here". It is a story of a trucking company that'sbeen targeted bysaboteurs.

The United States Department of Transportation has become a fundamental necessity in the moving industry.It is the pinnacle of the industry, creating and enforcing regulations for the sake of safety for both businesses and consumers alike.However, it is notable to appreciate the history of such a powerful department.The functions currently performed by the DOT were once enforced by the Secretary of Commerce for Transportation.In 1965, Najeeb Halaby, administrator of the Federal Aviation Adminstration (FAA), had an excellent suggestion.He spoke to the current President Lyndon B. Johnson, advising that transportationbe elevatedto a cabinet level position. He continued, suggesting that the FAAbe foldedor merged, if you will, into the DOT.Clearly, the President took to Halaby's fresh ideasregardingtransportation, thus putting the DOT into place.

The 1950's were quite different than the years to come.They were more likely tobe considered"Knights of the Road", if you will, for helping stranded travelers.In these times truck driverswere enviedandwere viewedas an opposition to the book "The Organization Man".Bestseller in 1956, author William H. Whyte's novel describes "the man in the gray flannel suit", who sat in an office every day.He's describing a typical office style job that is very structured with managers watching over everyone. Truck drivers represented the opposite of all these concepts. Popular trucking songs glorified the life of drivers as independent "wanderers".Yet, there were attempts to bring back the factory style efficiency, such as using tachnographs. Although most attempts resulted in little success. Driversroutinelysabotaged and discovered new ways to falsify the machine's records.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) conducted a series of tests.These tests were extensive field tests of roads and bridges to assess damages to the pavement.In particular they wanted to know how traffic contributes to the deterioration of pavement materials. These testsessentiallyled to the 1964 recommendation by AASHTO to Congress.The recommendation determined the gross weight limit for trucks tobe determined bya bridge formula table. This includes table based on axle lengths, instead of a state upper limit. By the time 1970 came around, there were over 18 million truck on America's roads.

A Ministry of Transport (or) Transportationis responsible fortransportation within a country. Administration usually falls upon the Minister for Transport.The term may alsobe appliedto the departments or other government agencies administering transport in a nation who do not use ministers.There are various and vast responsibilities for agencies to oversee such as road safety. Others may include civil aviation, maritime transport, rail transport and so on. They continue to develop government transportation policy and organize public transit. All while trying to maintain and construct infrastructural projects. Some ministries haveadditionalresponsibilities in related policy areas as mentioned above.