Trying to stay on the move.

• Position: North Carolina's transportation industry - Industry Overview

The state's transportation industry sees its share of ups and downs

Ted Johnson summed up how Piedmont Triad International Airport coped with a 105% increase in air traffic in less than a year. "No strain whatsoever," the executive director of the nation's fastest-growing airport says. "People forget we opened our new terminal in 1982 when Eastern Air Lines and Piedmont Airlines were going strong here. We designed it for 1.9 million enplanements a year."

Eastern is now bankrupt, and Piedmont was absorbed by USAir, which opened a hub in Charlotte. Still, with 37 daily flights, USAir remains the second-largest carrier at Piedmont Triad. The big player now is Continental Airlines, with 83 daily jetliner and commuter flights pushing the Guilford County airport to its design limits. But, twice in and out of bankruptcy court, Continental has a balance sheet as thin as USAir's. Starting Jan. 10, its total flights will be 78.

The rickety foundation of Piedmont Triad's growth and the current glamour story of North Carolina's transportation industry make a point: This is the era in which highfliers can crash and burn overnight while bankrupt airlines can rise from the ashes of Chapter 11 like a phoenix.

At ground level, the automotive industry, which has had its share of ups and downs the last few years, is really beginning to roll. Strong car sales have North Carolina suppliers such as Albemarle-based Metal Forge Co., which makes stamped metal parts, scrambling to meet orders. Small, auto-related companies such as 150-employee Metal Forge are complemented by plants run by industry giants such as Bridgestone/Firestone in Kings Mountain and Goodyear subsidiary Kelly-Springfield Tire Co. in Fayetteville.

German-owned Freightliner is gearing up its expanded, $37 million production plant west of Salisbury. In conjunction with plants in Gastonia and Mount Holly, the new complex will be able to roll out 12,000 heavy trucks a year. Many will leave for market by ship.

The entrance to the Morehead City port was dredged to 47 feet last spring, making it one of the East Coast's deepest. It and Wilmington increased shipping volume 4.2% for fiscal 1994. Commodities such as wood pulp at Wilmington and Texas Gulf Sulphur Corp. phosphates at Morehead led gains, as state exports topped $8 billion.

North Carolina trucking tonnage rose in 1994, growing about 8%. The North Carolina Trucking Association estimates that roughly 225,000 workers were in trucking and related...