How to Change an Entire Economy

When trying to understand the American economy, you may want to follow the trucks.

And that’s what my new 3-part podcast series, On the Move, does. Today the first episode went up.

Finally.

On the Move tells the stories of the past, present and future of the trucking industry.

But… why?

Well, firstly, I like digging in to what some may see as boring or heavy topics and finding the humanity in there. I like to look for the stories that go overlooked and unnoticed.

So that’s part of why I did this. But also, as I researched and spoke to my family about this project, I realized how much this industry actually means to me. Somehow I forgot that my grandfather — or Papa as we called him — worked on big diesel trucks and even owned his own shop.

My dad has childhood stories of riding with Papa in the middle of the night to repair broken down 18–wheelers. And stories of helping his dad in the shop while chatting it up with the truck drivers. These stories helped shape my dad’s sense of how to treat people and what hard work really means. And he instilled those lessons into me, as well.

Not only that, those late night rides and days spent in the shop helped provide a life for my dad then afforded him the opportunity to go to college at Vanderbilt and then to law school. And because of that, I was afforded an amazing childhood filled with stability, family vacations and a sense that if I put my mind to something, I could go out and do it. I owe so much to this industry, and I didn’t even realize it.

Now I want to help more people connect to this industry. Because without it, the nation would. not. be. the. same.

The history of trucking, in many ways, is the history of America. It’s a story of an industry that started small and at significant disadvantage (Heck! we didn’t even have real roads for a big chunk of its history!), but through ingenuity, persistence, and unbelievable hard work from its drivers, it grew into the Backbone of the American Economy.

So yeah… This is our story — The story of a nation and an industry on the move.

Subscribe to On the Move on Soundcloud, iTunes or Stitcher.