Our priority during the first weeks and months ahead was to assure the safety of our branch employees in the region. Many of our employees were left with only the shirt on their back. GE worked tirelessly to make it possible for many families to return to the area and start to rebuild their homes and lives as soon as possible. I can recall several senior level managers at GE on the phone with our branch employees daily to calm their fears, let them know they still had a job, and to make sure they were getting what they needed.

During the following months, the city started a massive rebuilding and cleaning operation to get life back to normal - which, incidentally, has never been the same since the night of August 29, 2005.

Since deregulation forced over-the-road trucking to re-invent itself a quarter century ago, the industry has rightly gained a reputation for being upfront about many systemic problems, as well as forthright about attempting to solve them.

That goes for making truck operations environmentally cleaner and more productive and for making trucks and their drivers more efficient and safer.

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