I had some personal business I needed to conduct in the next state over. It was a good excuse to get out of the house and see how the world beyond my local area was doing. The trip was 300+ miles, round-trip, mostly all interstates and toll routes. Started out early in the morning and didn't get home until after 10PM. The first thing that struck me? The number of 18-wheelers on the rode.
On the drive to my destination there was a definite lack of passenger vehicles -- nowhere near what you'd normally expect to see. I suspect that's because those who can are still working from home and a lot of people are not travelling on vacation. Most of the traffic I encountered was due to trucks. There are trucks EVERYWHERE. I saw multiple Amazon trucks, Aldi food trucks, a truck loaded with crates of apples, trucks transporting gasoline, even a truck loaded down with a shipment of plywood. There was definitely no lack of trucks on the highways.
I must admit to being surprised, as we're being led to believe that there are shortages of goods, truckers who are losing out because they're not jabbed, not enough truckers available to haul, etc., etc.
As surprising as all of this was, I was even more stunned on the drive home. The highways were teeming with trucks. At night, they're about the only thing on the road -- encountered very few passenger cars. When it got late, the rest stops were packed with truckers laying over for the night. Trucks were parked in every possible parking spot and every available space. Even saw truckers pulled off along the sides of the roads for the night.
I don't know what was in all of these trucks, but there's definitely stuff being transported somewhere. So where is it all going and what are they doing with it? In my area, I'm already having problems finding things in the stores and seeing empty shelves. Things are getting curiouser and curiouser, frens.
I drive cross country fairly regularly. During the beginning of Covid, just about the only vehicles in the road were trucks. I will say, last month or so I’ve noticed a major uptick in the amount of truckers more in the NE area. I’ve also noticed that the shelves seem to be getting emptier. I know in my area, they can’t find people to work.