I'm somewhere south of Des Moines at a rest area where there is free internet service provided by the Iowa DOT. Excellent signal inside the truck with 54 mbps. Better than any Flying J and it's free! Why isn't there free internet service at every rest area - and truck stop?This morning I was in downtown Minneapolis about 2 blocks from where the I35 bridge fell. The shipper makes carbon steel tubing. It is a privately held company and unless you go inside you can't really tell they're 500 people working inside. They do about $65M (million) a year. The corporate office is across the street from the plant and was built sometime in the 1860's.
The whole facility is "meshed" in with the surrounding residential neighborhood. No gates, no security shack and no signs to do this or do that. Everything is low-key. No attitude here. Every bit of space in the plant is used for something. Most of the employees I saw were middle-aged, mostly white, men, almost all in uniform. There were NO (illegal)Mexicans. All the labels and signs inside the plant were in English only.
I did not sense the presence of a union. The general feeling I did get was that the workers actually seemed happy to be there. I've been in enough plants to clearly know the difference. I was there almost four hours. The three men loading my trailer were extremely professional, knew what they were doing and took the time to cover the entire load with heavy duty plastic. The load was well balanced, everything was weighed and put on straight.
Every question I asked was answered. I was even given a parking permit to put on my windshield so the locals would not give me a ticket for parking in the street. The (former) parking lot was crushed by that collapsed I35 bridge. Spending my Friday morning at this shipper was just like a blast from the past. The shipment is headed down TO Mexico. Something made here by white men going to Mexico? Awesome!
The photo is a 1950's Steak and Shake taken by: http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0WTefaSQS5IahYACNGjzbkF/SIG=128dv8c4p/EXP=1211077394/**http%3A//www.flickr.com/photos/78469770@N00/415190562/
