Dispelling Trucking Myths.(Brief Article)(Company Profile)

The decision earlier this year to change careers after 30 years of daily newsrooms to the hallways of American Freightways, headquartered in my hometown of Harrison, Ark., has taught me it still may be possible to teach even old newshounds a few new tricks.

Arriving this June at the nation's third-largest less-than-truckload carrier (total tonnage), my thoughts were occupied with words such as "graphs," "deadlines," and the ever-critical "scoop."

But after a matter of weeks, I found myself actually understanding "inbound" freight and the meaning of "logistics," along with even a twisting nuance or two of the complex "supply chain."

Actually, the biggest revelations have come in the much larger picture of exactly what any trucking company is in Year 2000 America, and the enormity of what it …