As times get harder, operators are having to get smarter - and there are plenty of examples of just that in today's news. Bakery firm Greggs' use of routeing and scheduling software has enabled it to cut its fleet by eight vehicles and save £200,000 a year; Stoke-based Browns Distribution is employing a carbon calculator to reduce mileages and boost operating profit; and Redhead International has entered into a partnership agreement with Barcelona-based Moldtrans Group to make its Spanish freight service simpler and quicker.

It's not just operators that have been having a tough time of it lately; on RT.com today, we feature the Traffic Commissioners' views on the industry during 2006/2007, including that "difficult" VOSA centralisation.

The RT.com blogs are especially active at the moment. In BigLorryBlog, Road Rat wonders how Eddie Stobart (pictured) is managing to operate seemingly unaffected by the credit crunch, and BLB himself peruses some pictures of trucks from the little-known Kansas marque Cline. Meanwhile, over in the World Trucks Blog, Oliver Dixon has been looking into the career history of the new Navistar board member - who is big in boxes, apparently...