IntroductionEcology is concerned with the relationships of living things and their physical environments. These relationships are frequently studied in the context of an ecosystem, which is a total ecological community which considers both living and non-living factors of its environment as a unit [1]. The interaction of living and non-living elements means that ecosystems are extremely complex and interrelated. There are a multitude of trade-offs in ecosystems: something done to an ecosystem in one place affects the entire system. As a result, it is virtually impossible to do something that does not have an effect somewhere else [1].The physical or natural environment contains, among other things, air, water and land, without which ecosystems as we know them would not exist. Society is both a participant in, and an exploiter of, our physical environment. Its use of the physical environment's elements, energy and natural resources to produce economic goods and services can, and frequently does, upset the fragile balance of sensitive ecosystems [2].Historically, the environment's ability to dilute excessive waste discharge or recover from excessive resource depletion was rarely questioned. However, beginning in the 1960s, consumers, businesses and governments began to recognize, and respond to, problems involving damage to the physical environment caused by excessive waste disposal and overutilization of resources. This damage alters the quality of the physical environment and places pressure on the ecosystem to make adaptive changes.Today, public alarm over resource depletion, waste disposal, congestion and pollution has intensified societal demands for government and business to give greater priority to managing these and other environmental issues. The USA, for instance, has about 5 per cent of the world's population, but generates over 50 per cent of the world's refuse [3]. As a result, a growing number of jurisdictions have set up mandatory recycling programmes, which generally require certain kinds of waste (e.g. plastic bottles, tin cans) to be separated from other kinds.

Estimates the extent to which electronic data interchange (EDI) is currently used in the motor carrier industry and examines motor carrier EDI issues. The analysis is based on data collected from a survey of 266 Class I and II motor carriers. The major findings include: the use of EDI industry‐wide is fairly significant in terms of freight revenues coming from EDI shippers; smaller motor carriers lag behind in the use of EDI; the motor carrier decision to implement EDI appears to be customer‐service – or marketing‐driven; and EDI use by motor carriers is evolving towards standardization. Suggests that further research is needed to gain a better understanding of the degree to which the trucking industry is sharing in the benefits of EDI use and the role which the smaller carrier will have in the growth of EDI use.