Analyst's note: Considering the real possibility of a rise in fuel prices, the full impact of this one is certainly significant. Perhaps this item will suggest that you should consider reading the entire 10 items as well as making some personal preparation. Please note that the impact would be felt in a matter of a few hours to a month. No doubt the concept of "just-in-time" delivery used around our nation in so many areas is a contributing factor here.
[....] 3. It will take less than one month for America to collapse if trucks stop running.
In 2006 the American Trucking Association released a white paper that described what would happen if commercial truck traffic was disrupted for any reason. The report was called When Trucks Stop, America Stops and it shows just how vulnerable America is to even minor disruptions of goods. Trucks not only are essential to keeping supermarkets stocked due to our “just in time” inventory model, but bring the chemicals used to treat our water and the medical supplies to stock our hospitals.
The paper claims that food shortages would be seen within one day of trucks not running while hospitals would run out of catheters and syringes around the same time. Within two to three days ATMs will be empty and gas stations will be out of fuel. A week later hospitals would be out of oxygen and within four weeks no water coming out of a faucet would be safe to drink. It’s a stunning report that you’ve probably never heard of.
But the implications of the report are wider than just the unlikely event of a full shut down of commercial traffic. What if high fuel prices put independent owner operators out of business and decrease the number of trucks on the road by 25%? The same vulnerabilities would come into play, causing shortages and price hikes. The last gas crisis we had came before the majority of businesses used the JIT system. If we see skyrocketing fuel prices now, will we see severe shortages at the stores as commercial truckers make fewer runs?
Our large cities have grown in the last 30 years into unsustainable islands of dependent populations who rely on a near constant stream of trucks to keep going. Even minor disruptions in that delicate web will cause near chaos in the streets as essentials become too expensive for the average consumer – or disappear completely. This is something people need to think about, but they aren’t.
Our media figures often talk about sustainability in regards to the leftist green agenda, but here where sustainability is truly at risk there is nothing but the sound of silence. If we see oil prices hit $200 a barrel as some predict many people will suffer from this silence."
