GOOGLE DOCS link

vs.

DROPBOX link

I trust DropBox slightly more . . .

PROJECT SUBMITTED!!!

(And yet still I want to fiddle with it . . .)

What a wild time! Must have more chocolate milk!!!

Notes to self:

Don't just take and keep notes -- KEEP NOTES ORGANIZED!!!!!

Also, throwing away half of an original idea may be better than keeping everything the seemed so easy and logical in the first place.

Stay hydrated.

Stay responsible.

Remember to eat.

Remember to sleep.

Remember to walk away after staring at the screen -- then the wall -- then the screen -- then the wa-- ... blankly for ten or more minutes. (It's okay. The data will shine through after this.)

Leaving means LEAVE THE COMPUTER ALONE FOR THIRTY OR MORE MINUTES!!!!!

Take a notebook or a journal instead -- it can be your emotional blanky. (Remember to take the pencil, too.)

Come back. You are neither "Little Sheba" nor "Shane" and this is not a "three hour tour" for late-night snacks and television.

Gather yourself together.

Start to type from where the project was last left off.

What is the U.S. population? 331,449,281 ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States )

How large is the U.S. in square miles? 3.797 million sq. Miles ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States )

How many public (local, collector, and arterial) roads in the U.S.? 4,000,000+ miles ( https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/pubs/hf/pl11028/chapter1.cfm )

How many airports? In 2020, there were 5,217 public airports in the U.S., a decrease from the 5,589 public airports operating in 1990. Conversely, the number of private airports increased over this period from 11,901 to 14,702. The distinction between public and private use airports refers to usage, not ownership. ( https://www.statista.com/statistics/183496/number-of-airports-in-the-united-states-since-1990/ )

How many cargo docks? More than 150 deep draft seaports are located along the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as well as the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. ( https://www.globaltrademag.com/us-ports/ )

How many rail road companies share how much rail? About 700 railroads operate common carrierfreight service in the United States. There are about 160,141 mi (257,722 km) of railroad track in the United States, nearly all standard gauge. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_carrier_freight_railroads_in_the_United_States )

How many super markets in the U.S.? There are 40,460 Supermarkets & Grocery Stores businesses in the US as of 2021, a decline of -0.4% from 2020. (https://www.ibisworld.com/industry-statistics/number-of-businesses/supermarkets-grocery-stores-united-states/ )

How many fast food restaurants in the U.S.? There are 196,839 Fast Food Restaurants businesses in the US as of 2021, an increase of 1.1% from 2020. ( https://www.ibisworld.com/industry-statistics/number-of-businesses/fast-food-restaurants-united-states/ )

How far does the average American already drive in a day? 29 miles in 2017 (https://www.bts.gov/statistical-products/surveys/national-household-travel-survey-daily-travel-quick-facts ) 

How far can the average American walk in a day? The average American walks 3,000 to 4,000 steps a day, or roughly 1.5 to 2 miles. ( https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/10000-steps/art-20317391 )

What percentage of Americans live near a highway?  While 19.3% of the US population lives near high volume roads, 27.4% of the non-white population (including 23.7% of the black population and 29.4% of the Latino population) live near high volume roads. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1361920913001107 )

OVERALL QUESTION:

How many truckers, cargo plane pilots, railroad crew people, and cargo ship captains does it take per million people close to highways, airports, rail yards, and waterways with intersecting delivery routes to maintain food security in a region during a pandemic like Covid-19?

SUB QUESTIONS:

1) How long does it take someone who is medically qualified on average to get a license for:

• an 18 wheeler’s license (between 7 weeks to 3 months of full time work)
• https://driving-tests.org/cdl-requirements/ 
• https://cdlcareernow.com/articles/how-long-does-truck-driver-training-take 
• a pilot’s license for a cargo plane is 3,000 hours flight time minimum working first as a pilot for a commuter plane — which can take up to 1,500 hours as a certified flight instructor to legally get into 
• https://www.faa.gov/guidance/
• https://www.faa.gov/pilots/become/
• https://careertrend.com/how-6468751-become-freight-carrier-airline-pilot.html
• https://atpflightschool.com/become-a-pilot/airline-career/how-long-to-become-a-commercial-airline-pilot.html
• a railroad train conductor’s (6 week training program + experience) or locomotive engineer’s license (2-3 months on the job training, then rated by years of experience)
• https://railroads.dot.gov/sites/fra.dot.gov/files/fra_net/1600/MedicalStandardsRpt2005.pdf
• https://up.jobs/careers/railroad/train-crew/index.htm
• a cargo/(container) ship captain (360-U.S. Coast Guard-validated days boating experience)
• https://www.marinerslearningsystem.com/resources/how-to-get-25-50-100-ton-uscg-captains-license

2) How many hours a week can the new candidates work safely at each job (as judged in times of peace) after these licenses have been obtained?

• an 18 wheeler = 11 hours a day 
• https://bigrigpros.com/how-far-do-truckers-drive-in-a-day-miles-and-hours/
• cargo plane pilot = 9 hours a day/8 hours a night
• https://www.thebalancecareers.com/faa-final-rule-pilot-duty-and-rest-requirements-282927
• railroad conductor / locomotive engineer = 12 hours a day, with at least 10 consecutive hours off
• https://railroads.dot.gov/legislation-regulations/current-initiatives/hours-service
• https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/49/21103
• cargo-ship captain = 77 hours in 7 day period
• https://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/430820-how-many-hours-can-captain-legally-work-day.html

3) How many of the above are fully licensed to operate legally in the U.S.?

4) What is the total current population of the United States/(any country) as of June 2021?

5) How many transport-related legally licensed operators per million in each country/nation/territory?

6) Pre-Covid-19?

7) How much territory can an average worker in each field cover in one week to make food deliveries — assuming an average fuel efficiency program for their vehicles?

8) Who are the best Teachers for these workers to meet Federal Regulations?

9) What is their Teacher’s PayScale — and how many of them do we have? (Globally?)

10) Are the resulting jobs purely civilian, or can they be rolled into Army, Navy, and Air Force, and National Guard of individual countries as extra skills with extra and reasonable incentives in pay-grades to help keep any country secure?

11) According to each country’s Department of Interior — and backed by their own government Postal system plus private entities such as Amazon, FedEx, Facebook, and Google — where are the population densities that need to be fed, and how do they shift in real-time in response to a pandemic like Covid19? (For example: Attempts to log in or place a cell phone call, vs. actual placement of a call? (Katrina/Mississippi and Louisiana)

12) How much food does the average person consume in a day in raw calories? Is it really 2,000? (USDA?FDA?)

13) How much clean water (min/max)? (USDA?FDA?)

14) At what point in world history (such as Covid19, Hurricane Katrina, and WWII Russia) does population displacement start due to famine and pre-famine conditions?

15) What drives people away from or draws people towards a particular urban, suburban, or country area during time of pandemic?

16) When does panic set in?

17) How can panic be averted by keeping refugee and evacuee camps to a certain size with a certain minimum of health standards based on nutrition and food/water availability?

18) How do the food-chain supply workers NOT become unwitting vector points for any future pandemic?

19) How much wiggle-room is needed so that no country is working itself into or currently experiencing a slow, unrecognized skilled laborer deficit in one of the needed food-transport areas that could destabilize the nation? 

20) How to ensure no region has a long potential period between the certifications of one type of worker to the next graduating class of the same type?