The Veteran’s View: By Dennis Mitchell April showers bring May flowers! That’s what the farmer’s almanac says, but I’m ready to spring ahead and skip the wet weather. Just last month we were still shoveling snow in some parts of the country and now we are bogged down in the mud. Look on the bright side – two months from now we will be reminiscing about these cooler temperatures back in April and not being overrun with bugs. You never know when a rogue Florida mosquito will get off course and land in your backyard. Some of them are the sizeofahelicopter! Butreally,it’sall part of the cycle, much like the game of trucking, we will endure all it has to offer and, in the end, rise victorious. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! Spring always seems to bring out a positive energy in me, so let’s jump into some good thoughts. On a positive note, freight is on the rise and there has been a slight tick upwards in the rates. We have seen some stability in the fuel markets and, at the very least, the prices have stopped rising. I’m still holding out for diesel prices to fall under $2.00. I wouldn’t expect that to happen for a while, as our energy sector is still trying to recover from the unforeseen but real consequences of the NGD (New Green Deal). We didn’t get into this situation overnight, so the recovery will also take some time to correct. If I remember right, I read that a gallon of crude oil takes about six months from capture (drilling and tapping) to processing, storage and transfer, before it appears on the market. If that still holds true, at the earliest we could see some relief in the third quarter of this year. Most economists predict it will be into the second quarter, maybe even the third of next year before the overall economy starts to show firm signs of real recovery. The question is: can we survive until then? Before we start pointing fingers and placing blame on any one group, we might want to thank God above that our nation is showing signs of recovery. As with any illness you must first diagnosis the symptoms before you can prescribe a treatment. There is plenty of blame to go around. Most of the trouble started with the Covid-19’s shutdowns, and then things snowballed from there. I think we can say with some authority if something like that were to happen again, we would probablyactorreactdifferently. That’s experience talking, and anytime we can draw on firsthand knowledge, most of us will make better choices. Speaking of bettor choices, did you know if you eat healthy food and exercise regularly you will still die – it will just take longer. I have been out of the driving game for a few months so that gave me time to do some reading and catch up on many TikTok videos. I happened on to one called “Old is Gold” which was basically a lesson in marketing. It was presented by a young woman who tried to present her modern concepts of marketing using up to date technology (the Internet). She presented it to the management of an established design company, run by mostly older generation executives. Throughout her presentation, she was interrupted by an older senior member who constantly repeated, “No, we have always done our advertising a different way. We are not interested in new ways, and besides, your too young to know anything about marketing.” I mention this video because I can draw a parallel between this marketing video and the truck drivers of today. I am one of the old guard or “old school” drivers of yesteryear. Like so many others, I have fought technology at every turn. I still drive an old square 48 10-4 Magazine / April 2025 OLD IS GOLD - OR IS IT?
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