To summarize the effects of the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 is beyond my abilities as a mortal woman. I recommend reading this obituary from FreightWaves on Jimmy Carter’s transportation deregulation legacy. t.co/RF2SFe0c3u

In 1980, policymakers viewed Americans as consumers who deserved cheaper goods, not workers in need of good-paying jobs.

FEW policymakers thought about how trucking deregulation would affect drivers. The only focus at that time was eliminating waste in this massive industry.

For much of the 20th century, Americans generally bought goods manufactured close to them in stores owned by their neighbors. Today’s retail supply chains (and certainly next-day shipping) would be impossible without Carter's deregulation of trucking.

Truckload rates did immediately fall by at least 25% following deregulation. It’s unclear how much of the reduced cost of trucking rates have been captured by consumers — but we have undoubtedly benefitted from the increased flexibility of trucking.

So, why did Carter deregulate trucking? Americans were struggling with historic inflation. Economists at the time believed consumers would save as much as $30B annually by deregulating the absurdly-anti-free-market trucking industry.

Trucker pay has declined by ~50% since Jimmy Carter deregulated trucking in 1980.

“Truck driver” is one of the most common job titles in the US. It’s unknowable how much the carving out of this job has changed America.

In the years following deregulation, 100s of those moneyed trucking companies shuttered or consolidated. The mega-carriers that replaced them were generally non-union and took advantage of the newfound flexibility of deregulated trucking.

America’s millions of truck drivers were generally well paid + unionized. A union trucker's salary in 1977 would be $120K+ in 2024 dollars. It was a job where someone without a college degree could provide a middle class living on a single salary.

Regulated trucking likely contributed to increased prices. But it was good for trucking companies + employees. The 8 largest trucking companies of this era earned a rate of return on equity twice that of the typical Fortune 500 company.

Pre-deregulation, trucking companies needed federal approval on rates and routes for all hauls (save for agricultural goods). It was a system rife with cronyism and hilariously inefficient, but made the trucking industry profitable and stable. www.econlib.org/library/Enc1...

Br0….

I’m all over it!!!!