Throw out those rubeish Convoy stereotypes of the 1970s. Today's truckers are high-tech, high-efficiency, hard-driving players in the global economy.

you got it, a truck brought it." Theirs is a profession as old as civilization itself.They carried the great stone monoliths that built the citadels of the Incas and the monumental cities of the Aztecs and Maya. They drove the caravans across the vast deserts of the Sahara linking the fabled cities of North Africa with the empires of Persia. They accompanied the conquering armies of Hannibal across the Alps, and supplied Napoleon''s troops in their march across the face of Europe. They helped build the new global economy and unite a nation that is poised, for better or worse, to transform the world in its own image.

They are the long haulers.

The men and women who today drive the big rigs that deliver the manufactured products of our nation''s factories and supply the world with the bounty of California''s agricultural harvest.

Despite all the blandishments of the dot-com and e-commerce gurus extolling the virtues of the Information Superhighway, it is the 18-wheeler traversing the world''s highways that will remain the true lifeblood of the new global economy.

"Maybe some day, someone will come up with a machine to transport inanimate objects different places in space with the press of a button and put us out of business. But until then, the infrastructure is set up and in place to transport all types of cargo," says Bob Andrews, owner of Andrews Trucking of Salinas. "It isn''t something that will go away overnight."

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"The only thing I knew about axles was Axl Rose."

Maria Daigle, trucker

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Old Roads, New Faces

A lot of romanticized notions and B-movie cliches remain about the lives of truckers. And while there is still some truth to the mythology of the open road and the independent spirit of the American trucker, it is also a life of hard work, isolation, loneliness and economic uncertainty.

But to sit up high behind the wheel of a Peterbilt with its jet-like array of gauges and toggle switches on the dash, facing the limitless highway ahead and hauling thousands of pounds of valuable freight in your trailer behind, you begin to appreciate the allure and promise of a life on the road that is at the heart of the American experience.

For all the stereotypes that still endure, the old cliches are rapidly changing and making way for a new breed of trucker--men and women for whom trucking has opened up new economic hope and a chance to start a new life.

Today''s truckers are women like Maria Naigle, a Salinas mother and housewife who fled an abusive marriage to start a new life for her family driving big rigs.

They are former farmworkers like Freddy Chavez, who escaped the hard labor and meager pay of a fieldworker to become a trucker and truck driving school operator.

They are men like Watsonville resident Ron Cooke, for whom trucking still offers the dream of freedom and an escape from a homeless shelter.

No one offers a better perspective on the changes in the trucking industry than Don Nielsen, a long hauler for 30 years who now runs dozens of trucks carrying produce and ag equipment from his freight company in Salinas throughout Arizona and Central and Southern California.

"We''ve gone through certain eras and there is quite a difference in today''s drivers," says Nielsen. "In the early ''70s, you were looking at the Midwestern farm boy who didn''t want to run daddy''s farm and went into the trucking industry to come to the West Coast for fame and fortune. They were excellent and could fix anything with a pair of pliers and bailing wires.

"In the late ''70s and early ''80s, you had Viet Nam vets who were very good--guys Uncle Sam trusted with a multimillion-dollar piece of equipment who weren''t going to flip burgers and liked the independence and responsibility hauling loads.

"In the ''90s you had more urban guys--truck-driver school graduates who were more family-oriented and who didn''t like to be away from home for long periods of time."

According to Murphy Moran of the Truck Driver Institute in Watsonville, which trains many aspiring drivers here on the Central Coast, today''s truck driver is as diverse as the population itself.

"You don''t have to be big and strong and burly anymore to drive a big rig," says Moran. "Our students range from limited English-speaking people, to farmworkers, ex-computer programmers, administrative and middle-management people, retired couples and even the homeless. Our oldest student was a 72-year old gentlemen."

A Man''s World No More

Shattering the stereotype of the long-haul trucker are women like 36-year old Maria Daigle, who''s been driving big rigs for five years and for whom trucking provided a newfound sense of opportunity and financial security for her three children.

"The only thing I knew about axles was Axl Rose," says Daigle, whose slight appearance belies her skill, energy and passionate love of trucking.

"I knew nothing about trucks, except that you could earn good money," says Daigle, who had been staying at a safe house for battered women before enrolling at the Truck Driver Institute, where her tuition was fully covered by county job-training funds.

Although women have generally been well-received in the industry, and are oftentimes considered better organized and more punctual than their male counterparts, Daigle says that she had to work extra hard to prove herself in what remains "a man''s world."

"You''ve got to work double," says Daigle, who, in addition to her Class A license, has "endorsements" to handle hazardous materials and double and triple trailers.

Beyond the challenge of countering the stereotypes and expectations of a woman truck driver, Daigle admits to having experienced some trepidation getting behind the wheel of a big rig the first few times and finally driving on the open road.

"I was so scared, scared to death to drive a truck, and I was blown away by just not hitting a car," says Daigle, who did some long hauling to Yuma, Arizona, her first few years and now does local short hauls for Granite Rock to stay closer to her children.

"I enjoy every minute of my job, getting behind the wheel and driving those 18 wheels. I''ll be driving down the road and people will salute me. I would recommend truck driving to anybody. Truckers are a different breed, and I run with the best."

Out of the Fields, Onto the Roads

Here on the Central Coast, where farm labor is an economic mainstay, more and more Latinos are walking off the fields and stepping into truck cabs.

For Freddy Chavez, who with his brother Rafael owns the Truck Driver Institute, trucking has provided tremendous economic opportunities that just don''t exist in the fields.

"The Class A license is the best thing in the world," says Chavez, who worked the fields for 19 years before becoming a trucker. One of the main advantages of trucking for ag workers, says Chavez, is that training comes at minimal cost and without a lot of educational requirements.

"I know how hard it is to make a dollar, but when you get your license your life and future changes. I get calls from former students from all over country thanking me."

While economic opportunity was a part of what drew Ron Locke to trucking, it was the allure of travel and the freedom that sealed the decision. "I was drawn to the challenge, and of being on the road and traveling," says the 44-year-old, a longtime Central Coast resident who is currently homeless and living at the Pajaro Rescue Mission.

With financial help from Career Works in Watsonville, Locke enrolled at the Truck Driver Institute to follow in the footsteps of his father, who was also a long hauler. "When dad started, he drove the interstate as a way to travel and meet people. I plan to take trips to Oregon to visit family."

Economic Flywheel

What draws this diverse--and unexpected--group of people into trucking is both the huge demand for drivers by the freight industry and the unique economic opportunities that rarely exist for less-educated, less technically trained people left behind by the new economy. Nationwide, there are about 3 million commercial truck drivers; about 500,000 are based in California.

"There is a critical shortage of new drivers, and with our economy growing tremendously the demand will continue," says Warren Hoemann, vice president of the 2,500-member California Trucking Association. Nationwide there''s a shortage of about 80,000 drivers annually, Hoemann says, 12,000 of them in California.

According to a 1997 article in the Wall Street Journal, truck freight is expected to grow by more than 100 million tons a year through 2004, reflecting this country''s growing affluence and explosive demand for new products.

At the Truck Driving Institute, an aspiring trucker can earn a license after just five weeks of training and a tuition of $3,500, much of which can be secured through state and county grant money. In a matter of a couple of months, men and women once stuck in minimum wage jobs can earn upwards of $30,000-40,000 in their first year alone. For those with the financial wherewithal to buy their own rig and go independent, truckers can earn $60,000 or more a year.

New Roadblocks

Despite all the job opportunities for truckers and the growing demand for freight services, truckers and freight company owners alike face a host of unexpected challenges. The supposed freedom that driving trucks for a living provides comes with numerous professional and personal costs.

Truckers, for instance, must maintain daily records outlining their hours on and off duty. Federal rules, which have been in existence since 1938, limit truckers to 10 hours of driving before taking a rest of at least eight hours. When a driver reaches 60 hours in a week, they have to knock off for 24 hours before hitting the road again.

The feds are in the midst of reviewing these regulations, and California truckers hope they''ll adopt the California standard, which allows drivers to go 12 hours before taking a 10-hour break.

Truckers have also been heavily affected by new drug regulations and testing requirements that have made using stimulants extremely risky, as well as adding increased consequences from any personal recreational drug use. "Drugs took out a number of drivers," says Murphy Moran of the Truck Driver Institute.

Beginning in January 1996, federal regulations required all motor carriers to have their commercially licensed drivers enrolled in an active drug and alcohol testing program. According to Don Nielsen, his company must drug test all new drivers and randomly test at least half of his workforce each year.

Another regulation that''s creating challenges for some Latino truckers is one that won''t allow a driver who does not speak English to drive across state lines, although it is legal to drive in California even without the ability to speak English.

For the independent trucker, the general cost of doing business and complying with all the rules and regulations, particularly in California, can make it a little harder to remain profitable.

"The independent trucker is on his or her own resources," says Hoemann. "California law recognizes they are individual companies, and while they are good professionals and safe, they are not necessarily good business people. Successful ones make $60,000 a year, but a lot of independent truckers are not getting close to that."

Typical expenses for an independent trucker include up to $600 for a replacement tire, liability insurance that can cost up to $10,000 a year, up to $3,000 in licensing and registration fees, and some of the highest costs for diesel fuel in the country--up to $1.59 a gallon in California compared to about $1 a gallon elsewhere.

From the perspective of the estimated 25,000 California freight companies, some of the biggest challenges they face as an industry are the cost of fuel, the cost of maintaining a steady workforce, and the administrative costs of following California''s trucking regulations.

"We''re regulated everywhere and there are new regulations every day," says Bob Andrews. "Transportation rates don''t go up as quickly as regulatory rules are implemented, and that creates a lean situation. Each person in the company wears many hats to keep things running.

"I think all the compliance programs are important, but there''s got to be a way to streamline those costs," adds Andrews. "There are computer programs that make record keeping for log books easier, but that costs $850 plus someone do data-entry work."

Despite the huge demand for drivers, Andrews says it''s still hard--especially with Monterey County''s high cost of living--to attract and keep good drivers and find the money to pay them. "Twenty years ago a guy that made eight bucks an hour considered that good money. Right now that wouldn''t pay the bills or support a family.

No single issue from a purely economic perspective resonates more in the trucking industry than California''s strict fuel emission standards, which add considerably to the cost of diesel fuel and have prompted talk of banning it in the state outright in favor of an alternative.

"The industry doesn''t have a problem running cleaner vehicles, it just doesn''t want to be told which fuels to use," says Andrew Ryder, editor of Heavy Duty Trucking magazine. "Diesel is much cleaner now than it was five years ago and will get cleaner in future. If California comes up with new regulations that ban diesel, this state will be in an awful mess."

Here Comes NAFTA

No single issue promises to have a greater impact on the U.S. and California trucking industry than a provision in the North American Free Trade Agreement allowing Canadian, Mexican and U.S. truck drivers to complete access to each others'' highways and markets.

Under current regulations, Mexican trucks are restricted to a narrow zone along the U.S./Mexican border, where Mexican freight is picked up by American trucks for U.S. delivery.

Although NAFTA was signed in 1993, and the truck provision was to have gone into effect last month, the Clinton admin- istration, fearing loss of political support from organized labor for Al Gore''s presidential aspirations, caved in to protests by the Teamsters Union, which felt U.S. truckers would lose jobs if Mexican truckers were given free access here.

Additional concerns over Mexican truck safety, drug testing and driving experience has divided opinion over what impact NAFTA will have on the U.S. trucking industry and whether it can be effectively administered. According to a U.S. government report, less than 1 percent of the 3.3 million trucks crossing into the U.S. from Mexico each year are inspected.

With the Mexican government having sued the U.S. over this issue in 1998, and the U.S. filing a countersuit, no one expects a resolution until well after the presidential election.

"There is enough increase in trade for everybody to share," says Warren Hoemann, "but we have tempered our support of NAFTA with two caveats: there has to be safety, and opportunities have to be equal on each side of the border. Right now there are problems on both counts."

Ryder discounts many of the fears. "I think NAFTA will have a negligible impact. The facts are we don''t have enough drivers here, and we''re putting a lot of inexperienced drivers on the road. It won''t get worse with Mexican drivers who have been driving many years under much tougher conditions in Mexico. A Mexican guy driving 10 years in Mexico is as safe or safer than a guy who has had his license for five weeks."

With 90 percent of all U.S. and Mexican trade being conducted by highway, much of that in California itself, the state is bracing for the expected influx of Mexican trucks. In anticipation, California has already built two state-of-the-art enforcement facilities at the border in Calexico and Otay Mesa.

According to Jim Drago of CalTrans, NAFTA will have significant impacts on California''s highway system, particularly along the Highway 101 corridor smack through the middle of Monterey County.

"If NAFTA is fully implemented the truck traffic we''re seeing would double," says Drago. "We''ve got a system that is aging, and heavy loads take a pounding on the roadway. We have an ambitious four-year, $4 billion rehabilitation program to stay ahead of the maintenance curve."

For all the rapid economic, regulatory and technological changes that now confront truckers and the trucking industry, the one challenge that strikes at the heart of what it means to be a trucker is earning the respect of those people and fellow motorists who fail to appreciate the skill and sacrifice required to be a long hauler.

"I would like to see truckers treated with more respect," says long hauler Patrick Burns. "We''re not just dumb truck drivers. People don''t realize all the stuff we have to do at all times. Trucking is not a bad business, but you either got it or you don''t."

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