Two Big Events for March
Welcome to the March addition of Al’s Corner. I have two events to promote this month, and one is a first-time event.
Hockey Night is March 10th. For $85 you get an open bar and food between 430-630 at the Wheelhouse downtown. Included is a ticket to see the terrific St. Louis Blues play as well. One heck of a deal, still tickets remaining, don’t wait and get with Brad Reinhardt now! You can also just buy a ticket to the game if you want for $35!
March 24 the Transportation Club of St. Louis will be holding our first Trucking Symposium. The meeting goes from 1pm-6pm and will include Speakers and Networking for carriers, and is a free event, free food, and drinks.
Then on April 7-9th we have the “63rd Annual Transportation and Research Forum.”
The 115 Annual Dinner, another cannot miss event, is April 14th and will be at the amazing MAC Club in downtown St. Louis.
My timely topic this month is a few different ones. First, we now have a war going on in Ukraine that was initiated by Putin from Russia the last week in February. He has been plaining this for years, and now they have invaded. Very sad times for the world as this was not justified at all. Currently, the Ukrainians are fighting relentlessly and holding the Russian army back. They are not going to go down, without a big fight to maintain their freedom. They deserve our prayers and support.
In my lifetime, I have experienced the Vietnam war, Iraq, and Afghanistan. I was too young to be involved in Vietnam. I have an older brother who was lucky enough to have not gone. But I do know many men that did, and it was tough. Many still carry some scars and after affects. Also, that war, unlike when we were in Iraq, and Afghanistan, when the soldier came back, they were not always treated like the heroes that they were and are. Sad.
Now, the Ukraine war is different as we have a superpower, Russia, trying to annex another country against their will.
Back home it seems that most Americans, including both parties, seem very supportive of our helping the Ukrainian people and their army. In a big picture, globally, a lot is at stake. Will NATO and the West hold together and fight them financially in the banks, provide weapons, shelter for refuges, and many other services such as medical? Currently, it appears so. Will NATO and the West put a quick end to the dream Putin has of taking back several other countries after this? We should all pray so. Obviously, I am not an expert on any of this, just basically repeating what I hear from a variety of TV outlets.
I am though concerned in the U.S. about the political atmosphere we have going. The arguing between parties is the worst I have seen in my lifetime, and it is not even close to how it was in years past. It appears that there is no middle ground either, you are either 100% for a party, or you are for the other party. Hopefully, this war will end soon, and we here will realize how lucky we are to be able to live in freedom, freely vote and express ourselves.
Industry Update—Fuel prices were already going up as we all know, now this event will surely cause it to go higher. With this said, EVERYTHING we buy is going to continue to go up. This includes the price of shipping.
That’s it, have a great month, AL