Business Notes Jobs

No one has a simple cure for the deep depression that is gripping America's farm belt, but Don Lacy, president of Contract Freighters in Joplin, Mo., wants to help out in a small way and do his company a favor at the same time. Lacy plans to fill about 500 full-time openings for truck drivers this year by hiring financially strapped farmers. The new recruits will receive twelve weeks of training and then take to the highways for an average salary of $24,000 a year. Says Lacy: "I don't want to hold this out as a miracle that will save these people's way of life, but it may help some of them keep their farms intact."

Contract's drivers are on the road about 80 hours a week, mostly hauling spare auto parts and other freight for General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. The new drivers are needed because the company, which already has 1,200 trailers based at eight terminals from Detroit to Beaumont, Texas, is planning to expand to Atlanta and New York City. Anyone in good health is welcome to apply, but farmers will be given preference. "They've got a good work ethic," explains Lacy. "Our people work long hours. This just isn't for everybody."