The influence of the highway economy extendsfurther to the heavy-vehicle sector as well, with more than 1.3 million jobs andbillions of dollars expended annually by the trucking, freight movement, and otherindustries in conducting operations and expanding, replacing

modern economies is predicated on efficient and reliable supply chains.

Industries have become increasingly dependent on their supply chains toreduce costs and remain competitive.

most manufacturing industries today rely on just-in-time (JIT) delivery to reduce inventory-related costs, which can be a substantial percentage of total costs in many industries.

The idea of JIT delivery is that the materials required for production are supplied just before they are needed.While such a strategy significantly reduces inventory costs, it requires a very highdegree of certainty that the required materials will be delivered on time. If not, theentire production process could be adversely affected and costs could risedramatically.

In retail applications, effective supply chains can significantly reduce consumer

costs and ensure that a ficient quantity of goods is available to satisfy consumer

.