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April 6, 2017 Issue #150
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Carman O'Leary, Editor
Allen Lund Company
Marcom - Los Angeles Office
(800) 475-LUND (5863)
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A Day Without...
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The recent trend of "a day without" protests has brought attention to what our economy would be like without specific groups. There is an upcoming documentary that asks what a day without trucks, or five days in particular would look like for our society and economy. Picture food shortages, undelivered mail and packages, closed fuel service stations, halted assembly lines, stores and pharmacies would close, ATMs run out of cash, trash piling up on city streets, buses, planes, cars all come to a stop, and right about now consumer panic has set in. The thought seems preposterous, but it does accentuate just how much our world relies on trucks. Virtually every product is on a truck at some point in its journey to you the consumer and this scenario helps paint a bigger picture.
Be Prepared to Stop
attempts to bring us the real picture of what life would be like without trucks and the vital infrastructure that they depend on to accomplish the things they do every day for us. The condition of the U.S. infrastructure of interstates, highways, local city and streets is reaching a crisis level in terms of safety. There are thousands of bridges that cars and trucks pass over every day that are considered structurally deficient. Potholes and crumbling roadways are the estimated cause of over a third of traffic fatalities annually. The five year, $305 billion transportation bill passed in 2015 is just a temporary solution to the real problem we have created. U.S. investment on infrastructure is 28th in the world, at 2% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product). China for example invests 9% of GDP into infrastructure. So the question remains, how will the U.S. bring our 60 year old interstate system back to adequate and safe condition all while planning for the future development and a growing population?
Another key take away from the film are the related issues of the current driver shortage, self driving trucks and the inferred increase in reliance on home delivery of online purchases. The increased demand for local delivery drivers will take away from the pool of drivers available for over the road long haul unless there is a significant increase in the number of younger generations that want to climb up into the driver's seat of an 18 wheeler. Self driving trucks are being tested, but realistically it will be many years before we can expect any significant volume of freight to be moved in this manner.
There are always many sides to every argument, but the glaring truth is that there needs to be attention given to both our dilapidated infrastructure and the trucking industry that allows any one of us to buy those cool new sneakers, jeans, T.V.'s, go out to eat at a nice restaurant and the infinite number of other goods and services we consume daily. And it's got me thinking, what would a day without third-party logistics professionals look like?
Matt Minthorn
Manager, Phoenix
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Matt Minthorn
is manager of the Phoenix Office. He was previously the assistant manager, refrigerated department Boston office, and has been with the Allen Lund Company for 14 years. Minthorn is a graduate of the University of Vermont with a degree in business administration and has 19 years experience in produce sales and transportation.
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