Fuel for Thought

Footnotes

So many events happened in 2020, it was a year like no other. Of course, the big event was the pandemic around the world due to coronavirus. It was also a year of turmoil economically, socially and politically. People were fearing for their lives from an unseen enemy, while others tried to just maintain some semblance of a normal life, for both work and personal. 

How was your 2020? Will the year 2020 be remembered with multiple footnotes?

For truckers, it seemed to depend on who you are or who your customer was in 2020 to determine how well your year turned out.¹ While many hid from the virus, many others charged head on and kept the wheels turning. Some lost their customers, some found new ones.² Some embraced their new status as “essential”, while still others refused to haul anything for months.³ It is your business and you had to decide how to handle the pandemic in a way that worked for you.

There is no doubt in my mind that 2020 will be remembered and written about with many footnotes. For many owner operators it was a banner year and for many others it was, unfortunately, a bust.⁴ 

Will 2021 also be riddled with footnotes? Only time will tell, but as of this writing,⁵ the threat of COVID-19 still is very prevalent in our world and the end is not in sight. 

While many said “good riddance” to 2020 on New Year’s Day 2021, there was not a paradigm shift on January 1, 2021. We are still dealing with the same issues we were on December 31, 2020. However, this does not mean 2021 has to have the same results as 2020. We have learned a lot of new ways to work in 2020. We will not ever go back to the way things were pre 2020, but if you continue to strive for excellence, find new ways to work and live, you and your business will forge ahead.⁶

See you down the road,

Greg

Time can be an ally or an enemy. What it becomes depends entirely upon you, your goals, and your determination to use every available minute. 

     - Zig Ziglar

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^{1 Truckers worried about their health parked to wait out the virus. Many businesses were shut down leaving no work for truckers willing to work}

^{2 Those willing to work during the 2020 pandemic found new customers as the result of new product lines made available and in need of distribution.}

^{3 Many drivers with underlying health concerns chose to shelter at home.}

^{4 Owner operators who found new customers, also found exceptional rates. Owners who sheltered at home had devastating losses.}

^{5 January 24, 2021}

^{6 Sometimes reinvention is required to succeed.}