As we all get into the swing of 2022, I’d like to wish you a very happy and prosperous new year.
I truly hope that this turns out to be a wonderful year for all sectors of the maritime goods movement industry, including shippers, BCOs, 3PLs, longshore workers, boat builders, tug operators, drayage firms, etc.
Due to the pandemic, the past couple of years have been tough on some of the above sectors, as COVID has shaken up the entire world. Even as we’ve managed to get things back on the right track, obstacles keep popping up.
But these things happen in life and in business. And although the pandemic has made it more difficult for some industry sectors to conduct business as usual – longshore workers and boat builders, for example – business can and will continue.
More than 30 years ago when I was shipping off to Marine Corps bootcamp, I received some very wise advice that helped carry me through the grueling months of basic training. Someone told me to always remember that the situation was only temporary, and to keep that in mind when things get really tough.
I did keep that in mind and it truly helped me through a situation where I felt like I’d been dropped off in a nightmare. But by keeping in mind that this would one day end and that all I needed to do was persevere through it, I was able to not only successfully complete boot camp and a stint in the Corps, I was able to apply the ‘only temporary’ philosophy to other difficult situations that popped up during the course of my life and career.
So as we fully enter into 2022, I’d like to remind you that although things haven’t completely returned to normal yet, it will take some firm determination this year – or in other words, some new year’s resolution – to make it through what has been a very trying – but also temporary – situation for the industry.
Managing Editor Mark Nero can be reached at mark@maritimepublishing.com
