Factors that may affect future truck configurations for North America.

This paper briefly traces the principal changes that have affected truck configuration in North America since the advent of the modern truck and the modern highway in the 1950's and 1960's. It attempts to identify factors, such as free trade and changes in freight flows, U.S. and Mexican regulatory changes, vehicle technology and others, which may determine truck configurations and trucking productivity for the future, and discusses possible outcomes from some combinations of these factors. (A)