subject: Business Travel And What The Weather Can Do [print this page] In a recent survey targeted at business travelers we discovered that the most overlooked issue for business travelers was the weather. When we take into consideration just how important good weather is for a business travelers, this fact seems rather surprising. Nothing grounds a flight like a blizzard or creates heavy road traffic like heavy rains.
It really does not matter which weather phenomenon you encounter all of them have devastating affects on your schedule. Since we as business travelers or salespeople keep such tight schedules one me are late for one appointment, it almost always ripples through our appointment schedule. At best this can annoy customers and at worst destroy your income and business reputation.
There is some irony here, as we now have more options to counter inclement weather conditions then ever before. The first and most common is the smart phone. Almost every net enabled phone has some form of weather application. Smart phones have an added benefit of other applications that can help you deal with problems that arise, like going online and rescheduling a flight or renting a car. There is some risk with cell phones however. In large stretches of the US they get almost no reception and have very limited online capabilities. Also recurring monthly charges can get expensive.
A much less expensive and very reliable way to stay informed is a blast from the past. I am talking about CB radio. There are several types of CB radios on the market but almost every model can monitor emergency frequencies and monitor weather stations. The disadvantage to CB radio is obvious, it doesn't have the powerful internet based tools that a cell phone has but that is only half the argument. There are some serious benefits to CB radio. One of the biggest benefits is the passive ability to monitor emergency frequencies and weather channels. This type of set and forget technology is highly desirable as most business travelers already have a lot on their minds. Also as powerful as cell phones are you don't know the number of the trucker up the road, yet communicating over CB radio frequencies is easily and readily available. CB radio models can be purchased for under $100 and have no other related costs.
When asked what method they use to monitor weather conditions a solid percentage mentioned wifi networks. WiFI is an unreliable option in my opinion. WiFi networks are notoriously unreliable and unless they are satellite based they are only offered in limited areas. Sat elite based connections can get expensive and you cant really surf the net while driving.
Each method of monitoring weather has its advantages and challenges, but the more important issue is to make sure you are doing something to make sure a fast moving stormfront doesnt make swiss cheese out of your day planner.
by: David Thorson
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