THIS FOURTH OF JULY, THANK YOU TO OUR TRUCKERS
It’s almost July, and that means it’s almost time to celebrate our nation’s birthday! Independence Day has always been one of our favorite holidays, between the barbecues and the fireworks and the displays of patriotism.
The Fourth of July is all about celebrating what makes our country great. Our freedom, our culture, the myriad of opportunities we are afforded, the list goes on. As is probably clear, this particular holiday fills us with gratitude. That extends to the industry that we work to support every day, for all the ways that it supports each of us.
That’s right. We’re pretty crazy about truckers around these parts, so on July Fourth, we also like to acknowledge the efforts of the 3.6 million men and women who are a big part of the backbone of the country.
There are so many reminders of how drivers improve our lot at this time of year. Buying hotdogs at the store, we’re reminded that truckers are the ones getting groceries to our shelves today and every day. The same goes for our dishware, or the outdoor furniture we relax on with friends while watching a fireworks display.
Of course, we in the trucking industry have known about this forever. Statistics abound over how many items are moved on a truck every day. And if there was any silver lining at all to 2020, it was that most of the public got to see how crucial trucking is to the nation’s functioning. Produce and perishables don’t get to the store shelf by magic – all of it is carried on a truck.
Truckers also deal with drunk and distracted drivers throughout the year, but particularly now. AAA predicts that a whopping 47 million Americans plan to travel for Independence Day this year, and of those, 91% will travel by car. That’s a lot of traffic.
And all the while, they take time away from family and home life to do this work. A long haul trucker typically spends 4-6 weeks on the road. It adds up to a lot of fast food meals and truck stop showers, but we haven’t tallied exactly how many bedtime stories and goodnight kisses they miss out on. It’s not an easy job, and we are incredibly grateful to the men and women who sign up for it.
Finally, we can’t forget that a lot of truckers are military veterans. They risked everything to serve their country in uniform, and then came home to serve in this capacity. In fact, we can’t think of many reasons that trucking isn’t downright patriotic.
Truckers, thank you for all that you do.
Happy Fourth of July!
