Do People Care About You? 

I like to think that we care about each other, but sometimes I'm not sure.  I know when disaster strikes, Americans send money to others, sometimes millions of dollars.  The 9-11 disaster, Hurricane Katrina, the Virginia Tech killings immediately come to mind.  Millions of dollars are donated to churches every week, ostensibly to help others.  But what about day-to-day activities?   

If I lose my job, will my neighbors give me money?  I know they will say they are sorry it happened, but what else can I expect?  I will get advice, some sympathy, perhaps a job reference, but not much else.  Should I expect help?   

The trucking industry, particularly small operators and independents are experiencing economic difficulty to say the least.  So who cares?  There are some initiatives that will help – the possible fuel tax holiday,  the TRUCC Act, the OOU, and the OOIDA will push for changes to provide a level playing field for competition, but I can't see much else happening.  The truck shutdown and a number of stories on television and in the press have focused some attention on the issue, but the average American outside of the trucking industry is largely unaffected and unaware of any difficulties and even if they were – what can we expect them to do?   

An illustration about Wal-Mart might shed some light on the issue.  Americans are concerned about job losses, but Wal-Mart makes millions of dollars by offering inexpensive goods made overseas and Americans flock to their doors.  So the short answer to what can be expected in the trucking industry is not much.   Perhaps the question that needs to be addressed is what can we do? 

The answer is not particularly appealing.  Try to survive by actively supporting organizations that have your interests in mind, support legislative initiatives on the local and national level that will help, look for innovative ways to provide services, cut your costs wherever you can and stay actively abreast of industry news that might provide a worthwhile suggestion or idea.      

This article is really a follow-on to a previous comment here.  In looking about for what is possible, I read some articles by Walter Williams, an economist at George Mason University.  He writes in a manner that is easy to understand and presents the economic picture in realistic terms.  He wrote an article titled “Do People Care” which was the basis for my ramblings.  His article ends, “how you make it in this world, for the most part, depends more on what you do as opposed to whether people like or dislike you. In order to produce a successful life, one must find ways to please his fellow man. That is, find out what goods and services his fellow man values, and is willing to pay for, and then acquire the necessary skills and education to provide it. Whether your fellow man cares about you or not is largely irrelevant.” 

Those are some tough words.  I fear they may be true.