Business
Studies search for causes, solutions to truck driver shortage
There aren’t enough big rig drivers now, and there haven’t been enough drivers for a long time.
In 2019, the trucking industry was short 61,000 drivers, according to the American Trucking Association (ATA). The association estimates a shortage of 160,000 drivers by 2028.
Trucks carry more freight across the country than every other mode of transportation combined, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. About 3.8 million drivers haul 71 percent of U.S. freight.
So there is plenty of work. Driver pay averages $47,000 a year, somewhat higher than the average of $42,000 across all occupations. It works out to about $22 an hour.
According to the ATA, the driving force is older, an average of about 46 years old. The industry is not attracting enough young people. At least one of the reasons is mandatory regular drug testing, something some industry leaders say should be strengthened.
While people who enter the trucking industry can be quite loyal to it, people still have to be 21 to drive. The ATA is working to lower that age to 18. Safety advocacy groups have argued that young truck drivers are more likely to be involved in fatal crashes.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association says that wages have not kept up with inflation. The association also cites problematic working conditions, since drivers must spend long hours away from home.
A Loyola University study points the finger at federal regulations for the long periods of downtime away from home. Regulations can make it difficult for drivers to drive at the best times, and drivers can be stranded for days away from home. For example, a driver who stops work on Friday morning may have to wait until Monday rush hour to get back on the road. For drivers paid by the mile, being stuck in traffic can chop $2 an hour off their pay.
Business
Canning history: How canned food revolutionized society
You might not realize it, but the humble cans of soup gathering dust in your pantry helped revolutionize the world. And believe it or not, canned food started as a war weapon.
Canning was invented in 1809 by Nicolas Appert in response to a request by the French army to create a method for preserving foods for a long period of time. Large armies require lots of food, especially if they are deployed for extended periods. And if armies are operating far from their home territory, securing supplies and food, in particular, can be difficult. Canning made it far easier to preserve food. This, in turn, made it easier to supply armies, explorers, and others who had to rely on preserved foods.
While Appert invented the canning process, he didn’t actually understand why it worked. It would take another half a century for Louis Pasteur to unwind the mysteries of canning. When food is canned, it is placed in a can or similar container, such as a glass jar. The container is then sealed, which prevents outside organisms from getting in. Next, the canned food is heated to kill off any germs still alive inside. Pasteur was the first to prove that microbes caused food to spoil.
Ultimately, canned foods made it easier for explorers to travel through the American West and cross oceans the world over. For better or worse, canned foods made it easier to deploy large armies for longer periods. This may have made the American Civil War and Crimean War in Europe, among other conflicts, bloodier as armies were able to march farther and stay in the field longer.
By the early 1900s, canning food was a popular home technology, adopted by women worldwide after the invention of new sealable jars by Charles Ball and Alexander Kerr.
Canned foods also help make food in general cheaper. Up until the 20th century, food took up a much larger portion of the average family’s budget.
Business
Leaders: Peter Thiel looks to future
When you think of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO may come to mind first. But venture capitalist Peter Thiel also played a major role in Facebook, and he’s also had a big part in other tech companies. These days, Thiel is perhaps as well known for his political and social activism as he is for investing.
Born in Germany, Thiel’s family immigrated to the United States while Peter was still an infant. A strict upbringing helped shape Thiel’s philosophical outlook, which to this day leans libertarian.
Thiel eventually received a law degree from Stanford and even clerked for a judge in Atlanta. But as computers and the Internet boomed in the early 1990s, Thiel eschewed a law career and raised money to fund tech investments instead.
A few years later, Thiel co-founded PayPal, which grew into one of the largest online payment platforms in the world. Thiel was Facebook’s first outside investor, and without his resources, the social media platform might not have become the tech giant it is today. Since then, Thiel has raked in many millions more with investments in Lyft, Asana, Airbnb, and other hot tech platforms.
As an investor, Thiel has a good eye for spotting tech companies that could revolutionize society and industries. Part of this likely comes down to his business philosophy, which focuses on disruptive innovation. In his best-selling business book, “Zero to One,” Thiel argues that:
“Every moment in business happens only once. The next Bill Gates will not build an operating system. The next Larry Page or Sergey Brin won’t make a search engine. And the next Mark Zuckerberg won’t create a social network. If you are copying these guys, you aren’t learning from them.”
Business
Savings interest rates may rise slowly
When you open a savings account, you are, in effect, lending money to your bank, and in return, you get a very safe investment and a little interest.
For the past several years, the Federal Reserve kept interest rates low. This meant cheaper mortgages, but also microscopic earnings on savings deposits. In fact, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation reports that the national savings interest rate was a tiny .07 as of May 2022, up from .06 percent in December 2021. Go back to 2010 and rates averaged .2 percent. Peek further back in time, however, and you can find rates in excess of 7 percent.
So with Fed interest rates on the rise, will you see interest paid on savings accounts increase? Probably, but only marginally. As the Fed rates tick up, so too will savings account rates. But even optimistic experts are predicting that rates will rise to 2 percent or thereabouts in late 2022. Rates will rise as banks compete for deposits, but the increase will probably be slow and incremental.
Large, historically-established banks have been slow to increase rates. Less well-known online banks, however, are courting customers more aggressively and even offering rates in excess of 1 percent.
Business
From farming to mapping the world: Meet Gladys West
Catch a road trip movie from the 70s or 80s and you might see folks juggling with maps or else asking for directions. These days? There’s an app for that. Cars, planes, and even trains all rely on GPS.
Ever wondered where it came from? In part, it came from Gladys West, one of the chief architects of the Global Positioning System (GPS).

Dr. Gladys West is inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame during a ceremony in her honor at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 6, 2018. West was among the so-called “Hidden Figures” part of the team who did computing for the U.S. military in the era before electronic systems. The Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame is one of the Air Force’s Space Commands Highest Honors.(Photo by Adrian Cadiz)
West was born in 1930 in Virginia. Coming into the world amid the Great Depression, and as an African-American in a segregated nation, you might not think her work would change the world. But it did.
During her childhood, West spent summers helping on the family farm. When school was in session, it was a three-mile walk, both ways, each day.
West quickly saw her education as her ticket to prosperity. After years of studying, she earned a scholarship to Virginia State College, where she majored in mathematics. Eventually, this led to a job as a programmer at a Virginia naval base, where she was one of four Black employees.
Toiling long hours, West contributed to space exploration and later programmed the IBM 7030 Stretch computer to build an accurate geodetic Earth model. This work laid the foundation for the Global Positioning System that helps the modern world go round.
In 2018, she was inducted into the United States Air Force Hall of Fame.
Today, she is 91. She and her husband, Ira, have three children and seven grandchildren. While she pioneered GPS, she still prefers paper maps.
Business
The history of Independent Retailer Month
July is Independent Retailer Month, an event that encourages people to visit their local shops and markets and support their community’s business sector. After all, small businesses are the backbone of the economy.
How it started
Independent Retailer Week was created in 2003 by Tom Shay, the founder of Profits Plus, a web-based company providing support to small businesses. With this event, he sought to educate small business owners on the importance of engaging with their communities and customers.
Six years later, Kerry Bannigan, a co-founder of Nolcha, launched her own version of Independent Retailer Week. This time, the campaign targeted New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, and New Jersey. The event focused on independent fashion retailers and was a tremendous success.
In 2011, Shay and Bannigan discussed creating a new, more inclusive event that celebrated and raised awareness of the importance of independent retailers of all kinds. Independent Retailer Month was born in July 2011 and quickly spread around the globe to places like the UK and Canada.
How it’s celebrated today
Today, Independent Retailer Month is an annual event that brings together independent retail associations, small business groups, and thought leaders to highlight independent retailers’ positive social and economic impacts on towns and cities.
Although July is Independent Retailer Month, local merchants need your support all year long.
Business
In pursuit of the well-trimmed lawn
Few things say Americana like a well-trimmed lawn. Yet the modern lawn is a modern invention. Throughout most of history, trimmed yards were a luxury for the wealthy, who could hire people to cut and trim by hand. Most regular people only cleared land for farming or other agricultural purposes. Sometimes, grazing animals, like goats, were used to keep nature in check. By and large, however, people didn’t cut the grass in the modern sense.
In 1830, Edwin Beard Budding introduced the lawnmower to the world, taking inspiration from local clothing mills. This early lawnmower looks comical by today’s standards and was too heavy to easily use. However, Budding’s ideas cut the way for human-powered reel-type mowers, which while less common, are still used today.
In 1859, Thomas Green created a chain-driven mower. Squint really, really hard, and this mower looks vaguely similar to the motorized push mowers found in many garages and sheds today. A steam power motor appeared in the 1890s, and a large commercial combustion mower hit the turf in 1902. The first gas power mower started cutting in 1915.
These days, many folks opt for riding lawnmowers. Why push when you can rest? The first self-propelled riding lawnmower, the so-called “Triplex,” was introduced in 1922. Still, while mower technology advanced, many folks skipped cutting lawns. In 1952, as modern lawn care sensibilities were emerging, Briggs and Stratton developed a lightweight aluminum engine, which, in turn, allowed for light and easy-to-handle mowers.
The next several decades saw modern push and riding lawnmowers become more effective, cheaper, and easier to handle. Thus, more and more people started cutting their lawns. Now, you can purchase automated lawnmowers guided by AI to trim your grass. And rather than pushing or driving, you can enjoy a glass of lemonade on your porch while the mower does the work.