10-4 Magazine / February 2026 47 If the card was made in a country far, far away, how did they get the raw materials? Do we know where they came from or who delivered them? Were they sourced locally or did someone ship them in? How about the inks and glue? They probably came from a different location, as well. The paper is most likely a forested product and could have been locally sourced, but to make paper, you must first cut and then grind wood products. That involves many steps of labor and machinery (more logistics, right). We haven’t even looked at the agricultural aspect of planting, nurturing, and cultivating a crop of pulpwood. All of which take machinery and fuel and repairs and... I think you are starting to get the picture – logistics is not just truckin’ from one point to the next. How many of you have noticed the number of transportation operators using the word “logistics” in their name or title these days? Makes them sound kind of important, right? Kind of like “Grade A Large Shrimp” (I have never understood that description). How about Bovine Relocation and Logistical Specialist or Cow Pies on the Fly (cow haulers) – that could be just another load of B.S. Yes, I know there are many more fun names for differing aspects of transportation, but, on a serious note, how much a driver understands of the process involved in doing their job will affect their outcome or efficiency of the experience. Let’s look at our greeting card again. Once it’s produced or printed in Vietnam, it then needs it be shipped, but to where? Unless it has been sold to a vendor, it will sit in a storage facility until the order has been made. At that time, it starts moving, first from the storage area to the export region or docks, then loaded in the hold of a cargo ship or on the rail in a container, to be relocated offshore (imported/exported). We don’t often think about the various arrangements needed to load, store, and move a whole ship load of different products, from one country to another, or the time-frames needed. This is where my family vacation pictures come in. I was fascinated with the movements of all the moving pieces onboard a cruise ship, since we used to deliver food products to them. Not just the personnel, but everything from the food at mealtimes to the moving of luggage when boarding and debarking. With 4,000 guests and 1,500 employees, they might serve 30,000 meals a day. Wow! That’s a lot of LOGISTICS. We were on the cruise ship Panorama in the Pacific Ocean, slated from Long Beach, California, to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with stops in Ensenada, Mexico, as well. Unfortunately, we were not able to see or experience Cabo San Lucas on account of a hurricane and bad weather. As a driver, I am familiar with weather-related issues on the road, but it never occurred to me ships also need to adjust for unforeseen circumstances. We think of ships and, given the size of them, think they would just “bully” their way through a storm. As it turns out, that is not the way it is. An airplane can increase its elevation and fly over most storms, unless they happen at the actual destination or origin point. Then, all flights downstream will be backed up for a bit. What a logistical nightmare. I’m quite sure no one slips the pilot a note that says, “This flight must go through. If not (fill in the blank) will not happen.” Those pilots have the lives of all their passengers at stake, just as the ship’s captain does, and they are not going to jeopardize safety for profits. As a professional driver, you should not jeopardize safety for profits, either. That doesn’t mean that you shut down at the first snowflake, but when roads become dangerous, use judgment equal to your experience. Unfortunately, far too many drivers are continuing to push forward when they should find a parking spot to wait out the storm. That hot load will cool really fast when it’s upside down in the median, or worse, jackknifed with a family of three trapped underneath it. If your logistics expert (dispatcher) is telling you, “Keep going or else,” ask, “Or else what?” Remember, they are safe and warm at home or in the office, and not at risk of liability, should the unthinkable happen. They aren’t the one going to jail if you kill someone due to negligence or get fired because you messed up company equipment. You are the captain of your ship and only you can pilot it through unforeseen or dangerous circumstances. Over the years, it has been my experience that getting let go (terminated) for failure to drive during dangerous conditions is far less serious than wrecking your vehicle or causing bodily harm to others and the nightmare of insurance claims that follow. This was my first experience on a civilian cruise ship, unlike a couple trips aboard the Navy’s version of seaward transportation. This trip was far more
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