Survival Perspective: Transportation Shut Down

 

There’s an old saying in the trucking industry; “If You’ve Got It, A Trucker Brought It”.

It’s very easy to stop seeing all of the semi-trucks slowly creeping their way along the roads; simply because there are so many of them. They move slow, block the view, and seem to congregate during rush hours. But what would happen if for some reason the truck-traffic slowed down, or shut-down altogether…

 

Everything Comes To A Screeching Halt !

 

Life in America is dependent upon trucking companies hauling consumer good into distribution centers, and retail stores. Without the trucks delivering freight, the grocery store shelves would be bare, the gas stations out of fuel, and America’s manufacturing base would quickly choke to death.

During the 1973 Independent Trucker Strike; the manufacturing base across the country experienced a sudden drop in wholesale revenues as truckers refused to haul freight until they received and equal portion of the revenue generated. Greedy trucking companies offering sub-standard rates, as well as manufactures low-balling the transportation industry, created the conditions which sent these truckers into parking lots, instead of on the roads. The rising cost of diesel fuel was the primary factor leading to the nationwide truckers strike.

 

The effect was immediate: Grocery stores experienced a sudden reduction in fresh vegetables and produce; beef and other meat product distribution experienced a decline; and all across the country the Trucker Strike was felt at every level in America. Acts of violence broke out; a string of arsons sent many trucks up in smoke. Trucker’s battled each other, and the general public. Anarchy was quickly spreading as the strike gained momentum.

President Jimmy Carter got involved:

I am writing to summarize for you the steps I have taken, or am prepared to take, to assist in assuring that the disruptions by independent truck operators in service is brought to an end. In reaching these decisions, my staff has consulted constantly and closely with the leadership and staff of the National Governors' Association and with individual governors all over the country. The seriousness of the problem facing our nation's economy, if these disruptions continue, cannot be overstated

Read more at the American Presidency Project: Jimmy Carter: Independent Truckers' Strikes Letter to State Governors. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=32527#ixzz1ihJquktX

 

A national transportation disruption is one survival scenario that cannot be overlooked. Any disruption in the distribution of commodities will have an immediate and dire impact on every person living in the United States.

The Things That Would Disappear The Quickest:

• Fresh Vegetables
• Fresh Fruits
• Fresh Nuts
• Fresh Meat
• Gasoline
• Home Heating Oil
• Propane
• Natural Gas
• Automotive Parts
• Clothing
• Tools
• Wheat, Corn, Soybeans, and other grains
• Textiles used in clothing

Ancillary Effects of A Transportation Disruption:

• Manufacturing plants shutdown
• Retail stores shut down
• Gasoline distribution networks fail
• Airlines forced to cancel domestic services
• School bus transportation services affected

This is just the tip of the iceberg: If America experiences another transportation disruption, the short and long term effects will be almost immediately felt by everyone in the country, and across the globe as well. There are many factors today that can send the transport industry into a state of hyper-parabolic sleep:

• Peak Oil Crisis
• War in the Mideast
• Terrorist Attacks
• Sudden increase of oil prices by OPEC
• National trucker strike
• 2012 Pole Shift Scenarios

 

 

 

I’ve been involved in the trucking industry since 1984. I know first-hand how reliant the world has become upon the American trucker, and those industries depending on the movement of freight across state lines, and across the world.

 Look at the boxes below: Seafood from around the world that we enjoy are hauled into port cities everyday.

     

 

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