Motor Carrier Deregulation: Implications of Florida's Experiences for Northeast Agriculture and Rural Communities

Deregulation and reregulation of transportation is one of the most significant policy developments of recent years. It is important to understand the impacts of such changes on the availability of transportation services to agriculture, small communities, and rural areas. In this paper the experiences of shipper/receivers, carriers, private carriers, and agricultural truck brokers in Florida, the first state to deregulate nonpassenger motor carrier transport, are examined. Implications of these experiences for the Northeast are drawn. These findings are of particular interest to Maine, the second state to have deregulated nonpassenger transportation