Sounds like whatever UID is executing the cron doesn't have the proper environment in hand while doing it.
My cron entries typically look like this: ( . /<path>/.profile > /dev/null; command > command_log 2> error_log ) This runs the given command in a subshell with an environment of choice set by sourcing a given '.profile' or some other environemnt setup file. Works for me. YMMV. Peace.
