The logistics industry is the “always responder,” assisting society in preparations during the onset of a crisis, delivering goods during the crisis, and helping to rebuild and restock after everyone else is gone. Logistics professionals will sacrifice time with family and even put themselves in harm’s way to ensure that people have access to the necessary resources for survival and comfort.
Like every major event in modern history, you will probably remember when the coronavirus story became personal for you. While we have been close to the story for the past few months, tracking cargo flows and talking about the impact on the freight market, it didn’t seem real until the night of Thursday, March 12th. For me, the moment of reality was when the NBA called off its season.
The willingness to sacrifice billions of dollars in revenue to protect the players and fans meant that the virus was most certainly going to impact our lives in ways we could never imagine. It also meant that my instincts that this was going to be a major issue were grounded. I have been stocking up since mid-February, with large bulk orders from Amazon of rice, medicines, and household cleaners. My family and friends thought I was crazy and overreacting, but that sentiment shifted – and quickly.
I am fortunate that I have the ability to work from my house out in the country and to run around and play with my children and our dog. Luckily, we have super-fast internet here in east Tennessee to keep us entertained and connected.
But one thing I keep thinking about is how grateful I am to the logistics professionals that make it possible that my family has enough to eat, medical supplies and other goods to maintain our comfort and health. This is all possible because of the logistics industry and most particularly the truck drivers who are currently putting themselves in harm’s way to provide for us all. In many ways, they are the forgotten heroes of our world right now.
Doctors, nurses, medical, and grocery store staff are also equally deserving of recognition, but it is the truck drivers and logistics professionals that I want to thank. They are often unsung and to most of society are invisible.
As Business Insider’s Rachel Premack reported, on-average, truck drivers are older and in poorer health than the general population and therefore at greater risk. The highest risk factors, according to the CDC, are age and pre existing conditions. Truck drivers on average have higher rates of heart disease, diabetes and lung disease than others of their same age. They are required to travel between major cities, including ones that are hotspots.
While they are isolated throughout the day, they do have to interact with warehouse operators and get their meals, fuel, and other supplies inside truck stops which tend to have hundreds of visits per day.
Drivers are paid by the mile, meaning that if the wheels aren’t turning, they aren’t making money. So, they don’t have the luxury to stay at home and self-quarantine.
In recent weeks, consumers all across America have started to hoard goods like household cleaners, hand sanitizer, antibacterial soap and toilet paper. These items also have been cleaned out of the truck stops.
All of this means more risk to the drivers. The more times they stop at the truckstops and spend time eating in the restaurants (at those still open), they expose themselves to potential infection.
The logistics industry is the “always responder,” assisting society in preparations during the onset of a crisis, delivering goods during the crisis, and helping to rebuild and restock after everyone else is gone. Logistics professionals will sacrifice time with family and even put themselves in harm’s way to ensure that people have access to the necessary resources for survival and comfort.
Police, firemen, nurses, EMTs, and our armed forces are all first responders and wear uniforms that identify them. The “thin blue line” or “thin red line” are symbols of pride and respect for those that wear those uniforms. Those uniforms – and those of the military, doctors, nurses, etc. represent symbols of greatness, and each profession has colors that are most identified with their line of work.
To thank the logistics professionals that are the “always responders,” we wanted to create a similar symbol of pride – “the thin gold line.”
For many reasons we chose gold to symbolize logistics professionals. Gold symbolizes the highway center line, but is also the most malleable element and doesn’t rust or tarnish. Gold is recognized for its universal symbolic value and represents number one or the top spot.
For the industry stepping up during the COVID-19 crisis – before, during and afterwards – we believe that the thin gold line is fitting to describe each of those Always Responders.