Suspecting I was suffering from “the forest and the trees” syndrome, I’ve spent the past few months watching the world rather than writing about it. Spending more time doing than writing about doing has been therapeutic.
The wires have gotten better (at least to me) by the addition of new editorial voices. Combined with a new composition system (literally years in the making), “making” the daily editions is far less tedious and less susceptible to error.
All that positivity leads me to a sobering, liberating realization: I’m not so essential to the business as I was 25 years ago. Years ago, an entrepreneur/friend warned me that the realization would happen. “One day,” he said, “you’ll realize your business is like your children. They grow up and don’t need you as much anymore. Then you’ll have to figure out what comes next.”
It’s also proven an expression I’ve used in every business situation: None of us is as smart as ALL of us.
Watching what’s happening outside the wires is another story. We’re going through another of those watershed moments. The opportunity to reverse or remove the anti-gun regulations and discriminatory business practices enacted by anti-gun legislators is here. The challenge we face as an industry is to choose to fight the battles most essential to assure the long-term viability of the industry - the entire industry.
Rather than battling each other, it’s time to join ranks and get big things accomplished. Instead of opposing legislation because it doesn’t benefit your company specifically, you need to realize that it’s important to protect the whole industry.
It’s time to remind ourselves that while we may be competitors, we are not enemies.
The difference is significant. Competitors can cooperate for their mutual benefit. Enemies can’t. If you don’t believe me, look no further than Congress.
Civil discourse is as dead as the dodo bird in Washington. Instead of being inspired by cooperation, we’re distracted via the political equivalent of celebrity death matches.
Our “leaders” are too-busy insulting each other to spend much time governing.
Absent some responsible governing, we’re looking at hard choices being forced on “the rest of us” in the future. Politicians appear perfectly happy to leave future generations to clean up the messes they created.
Sadly, their negativity is infecting the next generation.
Many young people call their bosses facists for telling them to show up on time, dress appropriately and do their jobs. Their answer is…socialism (seen this move before, maybe?). It’s hard to take them seriously when the budding baby socialist tweeting is using a thousand-dollar plus smartphone and drinking a $14 coffee delivered via DoorDash (despite the coffee shop being less than a five minute walk from their parent’s house where they’re still living-rent free).
I can only imagine the ignominy of not having been moved into the C-suite after (gasp!) 67 days in the mail room.
Seems there’s not much being taught about work ethics required for business success and a whole lot being learned about entitlement. But their vote counts exactly the same as mine.
There are some bright spots: high school graduates who’ve decided earning an income while learning a trade is better than suffering through college courses that lost relevance just before the the schwa and thorne were removed from the typesetter’s box.
To them, a $40,000 a year starting wage at Buc-ee’s (along with a 6% 401k match, 3 weeks of PTO, full healthcare and insurance benefits - plus shift differentials) sounds better than going $50,000+/year in debt for a degree in “collegiate studies”. That’s a $200,000-plus participation trophy. And yes, collegiate studies is a real degree.
Around the Industry
Big-ticket items are generally considered “recession proof.” That’s because wealthy people have true disposable income as opposed to people who have high credit limits - and little aversion to using them. That may still be true for jets and yachts, but it’s decidedly not the case when it comes to land yachts. Sales of motorhomes are lagging and stockpiles are clogging dealer lots across the country.
It’s beginning to impact the RV manufacturers.
Winnebago Industries announced it is “realigning product” across its Grand Design and Winnebago RV lines. That realignment means the company’s Middleburg, Indiana, towables campus and Lake Mills, Iowa, motorhome facilities are closing. The properties will be sold “at a future date.” Winnebago says no product lines are being discontinued, and it doesn’t expect changes to ordering, dealer relationships, warranties, customer service, or ownership experiences.
As an RV owner, “doesn’t expect” is the key phrase in the announcement. The “unexpected” is a key part of the “RV experience.”
It’s no surprise to those of you who filled up over the weekend, but AAA says the latest three-cent per gallon price increase for fuel is on pace to make August 2026 the most expensive August on record.
The August average price per gallon was $4.06/gallon on Friday, with crude oil prices at $86.64/barrel, slightly lower than Thursday. If you’re wondering why the price on a 42-gallon barrel of crude is critical, here’s the short answer: ever dollar price increase on a barrel adds about 2.4 cents to the raw cost of a gallon of gas, before taxes, distribution and refinery margins. If an $80 barrel increases to $150/barrel (and it’s still possible) that would translate to about $1.68 more per gallon purely on the raw commodity cost.
No one’s immune to the rising costs of fuel. Diesel fuel is impacting farmers as we come into peak harvest season. Prices aren’t back to 2022 record highs (yet), but the change in price over last year means a theoretical 1,000 acre corn harvest will cost $20,000-$25,000 more just in diesel costs. Farmers may absorb that cost, but the costs of moving those crops to processing and market are added into consumer prices.
We’re all consumers.
As always, we’ll keep you posted.
— Jim Shepherd
