Both Currents Are Strong

Hey, me and Hank Williams, Jr., we're from Dixie.

And speaking of Dixie—during a recent drive, I passed by Dixie Plywood and Lumber Company here in Nashville, and it looked almost like a ghost town instead of the busy, bustling center of activity it normally is. There were just about six cars in the lot, and it didn't even look like they had the lights on inside—at about 9:30 in the morning.

And then I passed by a big shipping plant—sorry, I don't know the name—and it looked like a travesty of its former days. There were just a few trucks moving and then, whoa! I was almost cut off by a cement truck, with its load chu
ing. And then, as I was turning the corner, a UPS truck pulled out in front of me.

No big deal, just normal traffic. But I went from thinking, "Wow, things are definitely downsizing," to "Hey, things are still moving!"

I happened to be with a trucker friend recently at a conference, where I met him and his wife. They used to travel together, hauling for GM. GM's not sending very many autos out right now, so then they were hauling for Ford.

Well, what Ford used to do—what they used to call business as normal, what used to provide a lot of opportunity for a lot of people—isn't happening now.

But later, as I was pulling onto the interstate, I simultaneously saw at least 15-16 trucks—and I'm in Nashville, Tennessee. Dixie, right? Meaning I'd see more if I was somewhere else.

In other words, these are interesting times. There are contraries going on. The point is, somebody's using those trucks. They're moving and hauling freight. Somebody's paying for that; somebody's doing business. And those truck drivers, they are driving, they are working.

When I was recently telling my UPS man how bad the economy was—you know, you read a few headlines and leave the office, and you're not in a super-duper positive frame of mind, at least in what you're thinking and talking about—my UPS man said, "I guess people still have to ship."

Oh, yeah. And I guess people still have to have electricity, and water, and groceries, and everything else. The message is, be resourceful. Which side of the stream do you want to buy into? It's running on both sides. Both currents are strong, right now especially. You get to decide, you get to play the game.

Somebody's hiring those trucks. It can be you!
Publishers and website owners - You may freely use and publish this article as long as you publish it in its entirety, including the resource box.