Well, I get to put the first blog entry into the system... so I need to talk about something on my mind.
How about this. When I was 12, I used to run to the store to get a gallon of milk. It cost 79 cents. Today I pay almost 4 times that much. But that year my dad bought a brand new Chevy Impala, and griped because it cost $2000. Now today, a brand new Chevy like that would be about 15 times a much.
Now we talk about inflation, but inflation isn't equal. Does anyone that was driving in 1962 make 15 times as much money now as they did then? Probably not. But they DO probably make more than 4 times as much. So in the process, somewhere the farmer is losing out... in fact, many people at the real beginning of the product chain have lost out. These are the people that don't get the high visibility, and truckers are part of that class.
We see trucks on the road everyday; they are just there. But seldom do we attribute the importance to them that they deserve. And the trucks don't move without drivers. Without truckers, most people wouldn't be able to drive their cars, buy their food, their clothes or anything else. If the trucks stop rolling, the economy, and much of what society needs to survives stops.
If the CEO that makes mucho millions every year doesn't show up for work for a few weeks, his company(s) keep going. But if the country's truckers don't show up for work for a few weeks, the nation would come to a standstill, and people may even die. Sure, truckers will never make millions, and they know that. But maybe if we could just give 'em a smile and a wave once in a while,.. and maybe try to understand that while we complain about what the cost of fuel is doing to us in getting to work and the kids to soccer, its having a much more severe impact on that trucker.
