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img src="/sites/default/files/images/articles/printeditiontag_new.gif" width=120 align=right>There’s nothing like a serious snowstorm to remind us how susceptible we are to the old “acts of God” clauses that are scattered throughout our insurance policies.

With entire states closed to traffic for a time, with airports shut for days and days, and with public transit systems crippled, many of us sat back and watched the snow fall, whether we liked it or not.

This storm was bad enough to severely crimp trucking operations in nearly all of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions and portions of the Midwest. But as usual, when the plows opened the roads, many of the first vehicles through were 18-wheelers loaded with freight.

It is at times like these that our industry shows its grit and commitment. Bad weather is just another impediment, not a roadblock. The freight needs to be delivered, so it is delivered. Sometimes it just takes a little longer.

It’s true that the trucking industry is often taken for granted by many of the very consumers who depend on it for all their consumables. We can only hope that some of the riding public develops a new appreciation for our efforts during difficult times like this Presidents Day Weekend storm.

We’d also like to depart from the norm and give a little recognition to another group that usually operates in the background through thick and thin, snow and drought. Namely, we’d like to blow our own horn.

As the Washington area was digging out from upwards of two feet of snow, and with all area governments and most businesses closed, most employees of the Transport Topics Publishing Group made it into work last Tuesday morning.

Virtually all of the editorial staff of our newspaper, magazines and Web sites came to work, as did many of our advertising staffers, to ensure that all of our news products were available to you, our customers.

Journalists may not officially be part of the trucking industry, but our group is cut from the same cloth of hard-working, dedicated individuals who are determined to get the job done and make a difference.

We don’t thank them enough. So we’d like to beg your indulgence and allow us to offer thanks and congratulations to the TT staff for a job well done. Thanks.

This article appears in the Feb. 24 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.