The Rice's accident is a lesson to us all. If it can happen to them, it happen to any one of us.
On that fateful December 2003 day, the Rices were on a run in Florida, the likes of which they've done many times. Then, in an instant, their lives changed forever. Nearly two years later, Glen and Janice are still in and out of the hospital. Neither will drive a commercial vehicle again. It's hard for either of them to drive a car even a short distance. I know this because Diane and I speak often with the Rices by phone and visit them from time to time.
Folks here are right. The Rice's are indeed inspirational people. Were Diane and I in their shoes, I don't know that we could maintain the faith, hope, and positive outlook the Rices do. On the road or off, Glen and Janice are true role models who deserve nothing but the best. Sadly, they suffered a great injustice instead.
The entire expediting community can learn from their accident. Again, if it can happen to true expediting professionals like Glen and Janice Rice, it can happen to any one of us.
One moment you are driving routinely down the road. Then, in an instant, and leaving you virtually no time to react, a reckless driver (not one that fell asleep as the media incorrectly reported in the Rice's case) loses control of her SUV, crosses the median at high speed (over 100 MPH in the Rice’s case), comes airborne out of the median, and crashes violently and nearly head-on into your truck. Your truck and everything inside is quickly consumed by fire, leaving you just enough time to get out (Glen's shoes were on fire as he and Janice fled).
You live through the accident, but in that instant, you lose your truck, all contents (including your ID's, address book, cell phone, and all business contact information like bankers and insurance agents), and you forever lose the ability to earn a living by driving a truck. The following days, weeks, months, and years bring a seemingly endless parade of negative medical developments; some long-lasting and some painful beyond most people’s ability to imagine.
Spiritually and emotionally, none of us really knows how we'd personally deal with such an event, and related subsequent events, until they happen. But from a business and financial planning view, the Rice story presents a REALISTIC scenario every expediter should consider and prepare for.
Consider your present circumstances. Are you as prepared as you can be for the kind of accident the Rices endured? Do you have long term disability insurance? Is your nest egg sufficient to carry you through an extended no-income period? Do you have your business information backed up in a safe and accessible place? If your truck and all contents were instantly destroyed or stolen, how long would it take you to get back in the swing of things?
On a lighter note, let me tell a tale out of school about Glen.
A few months after the accident, I said to Glen that he and Janice had been through more challenges than most people experience in a lifetime. They witnessed a terrible fatality (the driver of the oncoming car). They nearly died themselves. In an instant they lost a business, their show truck (their home on the road and an extension of their selves), their health, and they were faced (and continue to face) a host of legal, financial, spiritual, and emotional unknowns. I then asked Glen, "Having been through all you've been through, and seen all you've seen, what do you now believe that you didn't belive before, and what do you no longer belive that you did believe before?"
Glen's answer came without a moment's hesitation and left me laughing out loud. He answered quickly and with a light-hearted voice, "I REALLY believe in the quality of the Volvo product!"
Trucker that he is, when asked a deep philosophical and theological question, Glen talked about trucks! He credited the Volvo high-strength-steel cab and Volvo engineering with saving his and Janice's lives.
Glen then went on to express the same enthusiasm for living life as he did before the accident. That's not to say they have not had their down days. Indeed they have. But it illustrates the truth of the saying, "You can't keep a good man (and woman) down."
In classic Rice fashion, Glen and Janice look for the good that can come out of an accident like this. Readers should know, the Rices count it as a blessing to them when expediters go to school on the Rice's accident and accordingly prepare. While their accident was an undeserved tragedy for the Rices, it is in their view also something that can benefit other people and even save lives.
One example is the median guard rail Florida is now building on the Florida Turnpike. Had that rail been in place before the Rice's accident, the Rices would be able-bodied and happily hauling freight today. But they don't complain about that. They instead find satisfaction in the fact that the accident prompted guard rail construction and that future lives will be saved.
So too will it be with every expediter that plans for a similar tragedy. The better prepared expediters are because of lessons learned from the Rice’s accident, the more good will come from what would otherwise be a tragic event.
Expediters can honor the Rices and themselves by testing their emergency preparadness with the Rice accident scenario.
Fore more on the Rices, See EO Story: "A Highway Nightmare - An Update" 1/17/04
http://www.expeditersonline.com/artman/publish/article_001302.html
See also: "A Highway Nightmare" 12/15/03
http://www.expeditersonline.com/artman/publish/article_1191.html
