Archive for the Thought for the Weekend Category

One of the coolest parts of my job is that people often send me amazing trucking videos. What can I say – I’m like a little kid when it comes to seeing big machines do incredible things! And since it’s National Fire Prevention week, this clip couldn’t come at a better time: I was fascinated by this footage of a water bomber putting out a Canadian truck fire. Now, typically, a firetruck is sent in when a truck is at risk for catching fire. But in a remote area like Newfoundland, Canada, where it

By now, almost everyone has heard of Uber. It started as a simple app to request premium black cars in a few metropolitan areas. Now, Uber is changing the logistical fabric of cities around the world. Uber quickly grew into a multinational, multi-billion dollar company as it revolutionized everything from taxi rides to courier service to sandwich delivery. Now, Uber has its sights set on the trucking industry – all part of its master plan to become the world’s largest logistics company. Uber has already started pitching services to shippers, truck fleets and independent

Does this woman look armed and dangerous to you? If you had seen me and Matchmaker Carrier Sales Rep Kendra Rhodes at the airport last month, you might have thought so. Kendra works very closely with our clients in Texas, so she traveled with me from Wilmington to Texas via Atlanta to meet them in person. Kendra’s no stranger to packing for business trips; a couple of months ago, she hit the road with Mary to visit another client. But this time, her trip took a rather surprising turn. You see, just days prior

You’ve got to love those ‘Dumb Criminal’ stories that pop up in the news from time to time. There’s just something that feels right about watching a bad guy get whacked in the face by his own stupidity. Take, for example, these two brilliant masterminds who disguised themselves with Sharpies before trying to burglarize an apartment. Call it karma, or justice, but we find them so satisfying, we’ve even featured a few of our favorites in the past. It can seem almost too easy to stay ahead of the thieves, especially when all of

This Sunday marks the 15th anniversary of one of the darkest days in our nation’s history, a day we will never forget. What started as a sunny September morning soon became a day filled with shock, worry, fear and grief as four airplanes, hijacked mid-flight by Al Qaeda terrorists, were used as flying missiles. Two were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center; another crashed into the Pentagon. The fourth crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers fought the terrorists and prevented them from reaching their presumed goal of either the White House

Remember the early days of the internet? It seemed like every day there was a new search engine competing for our attention: Yahoo, HotBot, and even AskJeeves, the “Internet Butler.” I won’t bother asking ‘What happened to all of those sites?’ – you and I both already know! Today, there’s only one search engine that’s working on everything from self-driving cars to developing gmail for the Cherokee language. They own YouTube, reCAPTCHA, Android for cell phones, and Chrome for web browsers. If you don’t know who I’m talking about, you could always Google it

Americans have a thing for beauty pageants. While some, such as Miss America and Miss USA, have become American institutions, others are a bit less mainstream: Miss Hell Hole Swamp, Miss Outdoors, Miss Catfish, Miss Snake Charmer, and Miss Klingon Empire, just to name a few. From Planet of the Apes-themed pageants (pictured, 1972) to the local folks at the State Fair, everyone loves a good competition, even the trucking industry. Enter the Shell ROTELLA Superrigs Truck Beauty Contest. Now, it could be argued that a beauty contest for trucks is less like the

Last week, I shared a few Million Dollar Ideas that had me asking: “Why didn’t I think of that?” Those ingenious inventions had me wondering – how might I find a way to contribute to advances and innovations in my own field? To get inspired, I decided to see what our industry is up to these days. I didn’t have to look far. Just this week on LinkedIn, Ford announced its intent to have fully autonomous vehicles in commercial operation by 2021. That’s right. In just five years, Ford will be mass producing vehicles

Nothing says “American Dream” like an invention. Just about anyone can find a need and fill it, crafting a prototype in their kitchen and applying for a patent. If the invention gets funded and takes off, the next thing you know that inventor is on top. As Americans, we love inventors. We learn about Benjamin Franklin and George Washington Carver in school, and we venerate the great minds that were able to dream up the objects we use every day. Historically, August 12th, has been a great day for inventions. On this day in