ONE THING IS CERTAIN WHEN


IT COMES TO FREIGHT, IT WILL FLOW LIKE THE WATER FROM THE RIO BRAVO, FINDING THE MOST COST EFFICIENT AND EASIEST ROUTE.


Orient Railway. Whose only stops I might add, were for the occasional traffic heading the opposite direction. But for Juan B. Salmon and his eldest grandson, the sum- mers were quiet and life lessons abundant.


Those were cherished times.


PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Continued from page 11


be tool thieves making their way through the county (this still works very well by the way for a certain few).


As the dog quickly approached our side, this heifer made up her mind in an instant. Having never taken an eye off the dog from the second the pup entered the bovine’s field of view until he reached the rancher’s side.


The cowboy’s work was now done. He acknowledged that by flashing the whites of his teeth in our direction and some com- ment about having it all under control the entire time.


“In a conflict between man and cow, the outcome is never certain.”


The lesson that day of course was when faced with uncertainly, stack the deck in your favor. Deploy the tools you have avail- able to you, for they do you no good in their box – or in this case, on it. What a great metaphor for our industry.


Fast-forward about 30 years. And as we made our final approach into El Paso recently, we were there to make a few mem- ber visits and to host a joint TXTA chapter meeting with the New Mexico Trucking Association. At a moment, still a few thou- sand feet off the ground, I found myself lost in thought. Studying the desert floor


14 Summer 2016


getting larger and larger when old Ike Roberts’ words from that hot summer day of my past - brought me back into focus.


You see in those days, just east of Marathon on Highway 385, at Salmon’s Shamrock. You could find me spending endless sum- mer days toting an old wooden Dr. Pepper crate between passenger and driver side doors. Cleaning off bugs, baked on glass by hot Trans-Pecos winds. Busting flat tires off their rims for cars and 18-wheelers, handing wrenches to my grandfather, restocking candy, peanuts and fried chich- arrones (that’s fried pork-skins for you non-locals). And also restocking those old lean-over-into coke machines you find now making a comeback at mostly BBQ joints. It was there where my grandfather always had a cold Coca-Cola waiting for me to pour a salty pack of peanuts in. Let me tell you, no greater summers there could be.


Brewster County was mostly remote bor- derland but we had plenty of trekkers from all over the country coming to take in Big Bend National Park. While there was not much freight that moved strategically through this area, you could always find trucks bringing all the community’s wants and needs. Located due south of places with Interstate 10 running through them, we felt even more isolated. In fact, the major contributors to freight traffic were actually the old Sunset Route of the Union Pacific and only recently now a revived portion of the Kansas City, Mexico and


Today, I find those lessons in play for your association and because of such they are essential in making strides in our border areas, a strategic priority for all of trucking. And as it should be, given the impact our border communities have on our industry, our state and not to mention the rest of the country. Take Laredo for instance, where Mayor Raul Salinas reported that there were 10,000-12,000 truck crossings every- day, representing freight from 170 different countries.


One thing is certain when it comes to freight, it will flow like the water from the Rio Bravo, finding the most cost efficient and easiest route.


While Mexico is Texas’ largest trading partner, the so-called BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) trade is on the rise, and Texas is feeling the impact.


Our future successes as an organization will undoubtedly be measured by our ability to organize in the areas of the state that share a border with our southern neighbors.


So as the sun sets down in counties like Hidalgo, Webb, El Paso, Brewster and the like. The cattle head down to the streams - just as they have continued to do now for a few hundred years. And ole momma red- wing settles in her nest, signaling that per- fect twilight time. Dean Martin crooned it best back in the 1950’s when he praised that purple light time in the canyons, which let us all know - it’s that time of the day to dream. And dream big we must, to keep ahead of the work and the many miles ahead. Here’s to making big dreams – big- ger realities in the miles ahead! R


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