Oral History Interview with John Thomas Outlaw, June 5, 1980. Interview H-0277. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).
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Abstract
When trucking companies in North Carolina came under pressure from state legislators to comply with new regulations, they decided to establish a rate bureau and looked to John Thomas Outlaw to head the operation. Outlaw left his home state, South Carolina, to do so. In this interview, however, rather than describing his personal experiences, he outlines the growth of the trucking industry in the South during the twentieth century and some of the issues trucking companies faced, such as an increasingly complex set of regulations and the growing need for technical expertise. He connects trucking to the spread of railroads and paved roads, and offers his thoughts on the mildly successful incursion of unions into the industry. This interview, though brief, will be a rich resource for researchers interested in the trucking industry in North Carolina and the South as a whole.
Excerpts
The growth of the trucking industry
Post-WWII boom in the trucking industry
Ending rate discrimination in the railroad industry
Different factors influence trucking rates
Complex licensing issues for the trucking industry
Charlotte, and the state of North Carolina, become trucking leaders
Professionalization of the trucking industry
Unions in the trucking industry
Increasing need for truck maintenance spurs industry growth
Black-owned trucking businesses are few
Fears of deregulation of the trucking industry
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Subjects
Trucking
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