Fontana: Promoting the “resilient” trucking industry will increase respect and career inquiries
There is a lot going on in the world, our country, and the trucking industry. I am not going to get into politics here, but uncertainty around geopolitical and economic factors, legislation governing trucking, bankruptcies, and new technology can be a little unsettling for fleets. It adds complexity to the “what if" scenarios fleet managers go through when deciding whether to retire assets, increase fleet size, hire more drivers or technicians.
One thing I have always said is the clothes you are wearing, the food you ate this morning, and that chair you are sitting in all arrived on trucks. But I also want to remind all of us that trucking has seen tough times in the past and has weathered them successfully. The industry has survived wars, economic downturns, emissions reduction mandates, skyrocketing fuel prices, an oil embargo, and a global pandemic. Need I go on?
The word “resiliency” has been used a lot lately, but I think trucking has a legitimate right to lay claim to it. If you look back over history, you will see that the trucking industry has always rallied to make sure that raw materials and finished products were delivered to their final destinations.
We did that by carefully spec’ing the vehicles we purchase and adjusting those specs as market conditions changed. Think about the impact e-commerce has had on many fleets.
We’ve invested in technologies to help us get more miles from a gallon of diesel fuel.
We’ve tweaked maintenance schedules to keep older assets running when we couldn’t get new assets because of supply chain shortages.
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We’ve sharpened our pencils and gotten creative to arrive at rates that were acceptable to shippers but allowed us to still make a profit.
We adapted when used-vehicle prices soared and then tanked.
We’ve operated through an avalanche of legislation, including some that regulated emissions and others that mandated things like electronic logging devices and anti-lock braking systems.
On a really practical level, trucking has continued to operate through tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, and other natural disasters. We simply just “keep on trucking” no matter what the obstacles.
That’s why I really don’t understand why trucking isn’t thought of more highly by the general population. And I think that could be in part because those of us in trucking aren’t doing enough to talk about what a great industry this is, all the jobs we provide, and the value we bring to the economy.
When was the last time you promoted the trucking industry to a young person and talked to them about all the opportunities for them to have long, successful careers in an industry that has deployed technology in many ways? When was the last time you talked about all the ways fleets give back to the communities in which they operate?
I challenge each of you to go out into your communities, or even with your friends and families, and talk about the many benefits of trucking and its importance to our lives.
