Keeping the Supply Chain Unbroken (More or Less)
- gregorymaness
- Jul 19, 2021
- 2 min read
Updated: Dec 2, 2022
The sequel to Top Gun, originally scheduled to be released in 2020, is due to be released later this year. Of course, Maverick’s Radar Intercept Officer (RIO), LTJG Nick "Goose" Bradshaw, will not be flying with Maverick, as he died in Top Gun. Perhaps he would still be alive if he had left Fighter Weapons School and went to truck driving school. Then again, perhaps not.
Truck drivers, like many other blue-collar workers, face the risk of being killed or injured on the job. Driving a truck in a variety of adverse conditions poses some risk. The country depends on truck drivers, as it depends on many other workers. The COVID-19 pandemic pointed this out to the public at large.
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, truck drivers got some love from the general public. I passed many signs thanking truck drivers for doing their part to keep the supply chain unbroken. I got more than one friendly wave or thumbs-up. One one occasion, a couple nice ladies were handing out care packages to drivers at a truck stop. They understood that the pandemic was affecting the goods and services available to the truck drivers and they wanted to say “Thank you” and to alleviate some of the hardships.
As a driver that is typically not out for days and weeks at a time, the closed drivers’ lounges, restaurants, and other services were not a huge inconvenience. I expect that it was a bigger concern and inconvenience for the regional and over-the-road (OTR) drivers. It would be challenging enough to live in your truck for days and weeks at a time. The added inconvenience of changing pandemic measures and closed facilities almost certainly didn’t make life easier. Fortunately, it appears that we are able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
We have a lot of people to thank for helping the nation (and the world) to weather the storm. Of course, we have to offer our thanks to the medical professionals, emergency services professionals, and the people working in the clinical trials/pharmaceutical industry that brought us vaccines. We also should acknowledge all those “essential workers“ that kept the supply chain more or less unbroken and faced the risk of infection with little to no acknowledgement of their contributions.
As a truck driver, I delivered groceries. A few times I brought groceries to stores where the shelves had almost been stripped bare. I even occasionally carried that precious and hard-to-get toilet paper. I was certainly not a hero, but I was glad to be able to contribute during a difficult time. Likewise, I was very appreciative of the fact that I was able to work throughout the pandemic, at least up to the point that I contracted COVID-19 and got sidelined. If anything good comes from the pandemic, perhaps it will be that it will remind us of how dependent we are on each other for our health and welfare.
I am due to return to driving status soon. Stay safe and perhaps I will see you down the road.
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