U.S. trucking demand is on a steady course higher, in tandem with rising consumption and a moderately expanding economy, according to transportation executives. Trucking executives said the big rigs that haul close to 70% of the goods moving around the U.S., from building materials to baby toys, are in greater demand than ever. But recession-thinned truck fleets and an acute, ongoing driver shortage have limited some transportation companies' growth potential, even as strained capacity has boosted their rates and revenues. Inquiries are so numerous that trucking chiefs say they are rejecting freight loads much more ... (full story)