
Editor’s Note: Welcome to View From the Top, a new series for Truckers News. In each feature, we’ll talk with one of trucking’s leaders about how their company and the industry are dealing with the unprecedented challenges and changes wrought by the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.
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Mike Gerdin jokes about where he lives: “Well, you know, we’re in Iowa and the wide-open spaces where we’ve kind of practiced social distancing our whole lives out here.”
“You know, our drivers and the truck drivers of America, they’ve just been doing a fantastic job,” says Gerdin. “I mean, I’m so proud of our guys, and not only the Heartland guys, but all the truck drivers in America, just doing a really good job keeping everybody going. And, it’s nice to see some recognition (finally) for the guys out there doing the job that they’ve done for so many years. People are realizing how important they are to our economy.”
“I just see (the economy) as a slowly getting better throughout the year as more and more things open up,” said Gerdin, whose company has over 3,500 power units and drivers. “But it’s going to be a slow time for us and the industry probably for the next month or two. Then as we hit June, July, August, September, hopefully, things are getting more back to normal by those times.”