Road regulation: the powers that be

In addition to Customs and Border Patrol, logistics companies also have the U.S. Department of Transportation to contend with.

"We all have to answer to the DOT," says Sowers. "On the road, about 90 percent of the time the DOT will pass you and 10 percent of the time they will do an investigation. Ideally, you want to work with a high pass rate. They look at all of your logbooks, make sure the driver is legal, and check your freight's weight. All accidents - preventable and nonpreventable - are reported to the DOT."

A lot of companies will use their high DOT pass rates as a selling tool. It serves to prove that they are safe and reliable on the road. "You want to have well-trained drivers and you want to make safety a culture," says Vest.

More on mobile service transport

DOTmed recently did an industry sector report on mobile service transport and storage. It's a sizable logistics market and can mean steady business for trucking companies. Dennis Mihu is service manager and co-owner of JDS Trucking, a transport service for mobile biomedical trailers. JDS keeps a fleet of 14 trucks and drivers with operations in Cleveland and Youngstown, Ohio, and also provides repair and service for medical trailers. Mihu says national transport is 20 percent of their business, which is running smoothly.

"We've been extremely busy," says Mihu. "We've been doing medical since 1987 and in the early days it was CT and MR and then PET scanners started coming in and now we've got the new PET/CTs out there."

JDS provides trucking for hospitals and clinics that rely regularly on mobile services and many of their hospital customers are in the process of upgrading their fixed-site systems and need to call in a mobile service during construction. Mihu says that hospitals will often test-drive a mobile service before deciding to spend capital on a new fixed-site system, which keeps medical trailer truckers in business. For hospitals and clinics that call for regular transport, JDS has them sign on the dotted line.

"The day-to-day moves with our customers are contracted for a year at a time," he says. Like all other trucking industries, the mobile-unit transport industry is also daunted by the cost of fuel, but that's not the largest expense.

"Our biggest expense is insurance," says Mihu. "We carry a $5 million insurance policy for mobile trailer transport, because a lot of hospitals don't hold those policies."

As with other transport companies, drivers working for mobile service transport companies must all be DOT certified and all equipment must also be certified. Then comes regulation at the state level. In Ohio, that governing agency is the PUCO - the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

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