Hard Times in Trucking
Let me start by saying that the past two months have been difficult. The stress of the Coronavirus pandemic has been tough mentally and economically. People are worried about their health and the health of their loved ones. People have lost jobs, and business owners have lost their businesses. The transportation and warehousing sector in Canada has lost over 100,000 jobs, and the Canadian unemployment rate sits at just over 13%. There’s pain all around, and how long it will last is not yet known.
We’re in a strong position at Len Dubois Trucking and Dubois Global Logistics. We have strong relationships with our clients and partners, and we have a fantastic team in our trucks, office, and shop. We’ve weathered, what looks like, the worst part of this storm. We’re not bragging. Our team deserves credit for working hard under challenging circumstances.
We applaud everyone in our industry. People in trucking and logistics are essential workers and are at a significant risk of getting sick. Through their great work, they’ve kept food on the shelves, delivered PPE, and have kept the supply chain functioning and intact.
We’re not out of the woods yet, but there is light at the end of the tunnel as economies begin to reopen. Trucking has probably hit its bottom as far as spot rates and job losses are concerned. People are starting to look to the future for growth and hiring.
We’ve Been Here Before
There are a lot of things that are unprecedented about the current pandemic. We haven’t seen a shutdown of economies in our lifetime. We haven’t had health fears en masse in our lifetime. These things are new and will have an impact on our society for years. PPE will likely be apart of our lives for some time to come. How we interact with each other will change as video conferences have become the norm for now. Working from home will be more prevalent. Our new normal will look different than a few short months ago.
However, economically we’ve been here before. Several times actually. We learned many lessons from 9/11, SARS, and the ’08-’09 economic crisis’. The important lesson is that trucking is a great place to be once the economy starts to bounce back.
Trucking is not something that you can outsource or offshore. There are opportunities in trucking and logistics when the economy begins to take off. After every major downturn trucking sees growth and new opportunities. We may see a bumpy recovery from this one but transportation will see upward growth and hold opportunities for new people to find fulfilling careers.
The trucking industry has benefitted from attracting new people over the past 20 years. This is a diverse industry and the industry is stronger because of that diversity. People add their talents and unique background and experiences to improve how things get done. And that’s needed in our industry. We adopt, and adapt to, new technologies. New regulations and different economic realities change the ways we do things. It’s talented people who will help us change and thrive.
Trucking is fast-paced and ever-changing. There are and will be, opportunities for creative people to solve problems and to innovate. The world fell apart and trucking is a great place to be as it gets put back together.
