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The integration of the internet into business activities is affecting the trucking industry both directly and indirectly. Direct influences involve changes in information brokerage in the highly fragmented trucking industry. Indirect influences arise as shippers and consignees demand lower shipment prices, greater service quality, quicker delivery, critical service innovation, and greater logistics support. The internet has brought new firms into the trucking sector, which are using the information aggregation capabilities of the internet to create new business opportunities in a fragmented and geographically dispersed industry. At the same time, many incumbent firms in the trucking industry have responded to the internet environment both by attempting to become more efficient, by increasing the variety and customization of freight movement services that they offer their customers, and by integrating their transportation and logistics services. Traditional trucking firms are also exploring new opportunities in related transportation industries such as home delivery and package express. The major players in the industry are becoming “asset-based transportation management ” service providers that oversee a broad set of transportation services, many of which emphasize managing information rather than handlin