This is a favorite topic of mine. I have done very well in this career, and I like to help others see their way to success. One thing that stands out to me as I observe new drivers is their unwillingness to commit themselves to making themselves into a driver who is worth more money. They always seem to think the path to more money is switching companies or becoming a lease/operator or owner/operator.
Very seldom (more like never) do I see people trying to figure out how to be more effective in their job, or how to maximize the use of their time. It's always this idea that says I have to be looking elsewhere, and therefore they seldom ever obtain their goal which keeps them very disgruntled in their career. They are always considering their options, but never seem to see the one option that is helpful.
To make more money in trucking you simply focus on producing better results.
You can do that at any company. It takes time, commitment, and resolve. All of that is difficult to face head on because it makes us focus on the real issue. It's not nearly as easy as switching companies, and it requires us to accept the blame for our own shortcomings. Most of us prefer the path of least resistance, and the easiness of laying blame outside of our own responsibilities. Thus trucking has it's own culture of complaining malcontents - it's a non stop whine-fest of people who can't seem to make enough money.
For some strange reason people get their CDL and their head explodes with the idea that they are suddenly valuable. There is no such thing as instant value in trucking. Nobody becomes a valuable asset overnight or even during their first year or two. Experience breeds expertise, and value is built on the foundation of consistent execution of that expertise.
I'm pulling a quote from a conversation in the Trucking Truth forum to illustrate this. Listen as a relatively new driver says...
"The only reason I’d even consider owner operator is because I’m locked into a low mileage rate. I’d love to get .67 a mile. I’m not sure if the hassle is worth it though. I may have to switch companies though if I want a raise. I’m considering my options right now."
I have no idea what "low mileage rate" this driver thinks they are locked into. But, I started my career at 27 CPM, and managed to turn that into almost $50,000 my rookie year. I never once focused on my CPM rate. I never once "considered my options." I committed myself to executing my duties in a way that nobody else was even attempting. I focused on being the most productive driver that company had ever seen. All my thoughts and efforts were to improve my results - that is key to success at trucking. Everybody focuses on changing their circumstances and it's completely ineffective. The only way you become valuable in this business is to be valuable.
You can be a job hopper. You can be an owner/operator. You can be anything that you aren't right now, but it will never result in increasing your value like honestly and consistently evaluating and improving your results. Set goals for yourself and don't stop until you've reached them. Then set higher goals. Be realistic, be honest with yourself, examine each week's results and see if you can see what it is that would help you be more productive. That's the key to profit in trucking. You've got to fine tune your own strategies for productivity. We get paid based on our productivity. That's the key takeaway here.
Be hyper productive. Be successful. Be happy and content. Quit looking outside yourself for more money. You can measure out your own pay in this career. I made a killing starting at 27 CPM, while my companions complained and quit the company or even gave up on trucking altogether. Value is something we build ourselves. It doesn't come from the name on our truck doors, nor does it come from who actually owns the truck. Value in trucking comes from what the driver can actually accomplish with the truck.
Sunday, August 4, 2019
Monday, March 4, 2019
Trust
I had a conversation recently with my dispatcher where he kept repeatedly using the word “trust.” It was a clear reference to the relationship we have with each other. The conversation started out with him apologizing to me for not getting in touch with me that morning concerning my back haul load. I told him it was no big deal to me, I already knew where I was supposed to pick up the load, so I just started driving that way, and since I was still about 300 miles away, I figured he would get with me whenever he had the time. I know he gets swamped on most days with problems his drivers are having, and I never concern myself if I can't get him on the phone. I just leave him a message and go on about taking care of my business. I know he will get back to me when he can. We have worked together enough to trust each other to be taking care of his share of the responsibilities we are working on. When a dispatcher has a driver that he can trust completely, it makes his job much less stressful. When a driver has a dispatcher that he trusts fully, it makes his job so much more productive.
Trust is an integral part of the trucking business. Think about it. There are investors who are trusting these publicly traded trucking companies to take care of their business by keeping their operating ratios at a reasonable level, and producing an acceptable level of profit in a very challenging business environment. There are literally millions of consumers who are trusting those same companies to make sure that what they want to purchase at the supermarkets or in the shopping malls across the country are readily available on the shelves.
It's funny, but most people never really think about how their favorite can of baked beans ever makes it to the grocery store shelf. Some farmer planted those beans, harvested them in his fields, and then loaded them onto an eighteen wheeler to sell them (in bulk) in the market place. Someone else purchased them, had them put into another eighteen wheeler and shipped to a food manufacturer such as “Van Camps.” There they cooked them, processed them, and packed them into the cans that were delivered by an eighteen wheeler. Oh yeah, and some flat-bed driver delivered some nice shiny coils of metal to that can manufacturing plant so that they could produce those food grade storage cans. I haven't even mentioned the distribution warehouse where the beans sat for a while after arriving there on an eighteen wheeler! Of course they left that warehouse on a big truck also. All of this takes place so that you can go to the store and purchase your favorite can of beans! There was a lot of trust taking place between many parties of people just to make sure that you and your kids could enjoy that seemingly insignificant little can of beans.
The whole trucking business gets all clogged up when people can't seem to get done what they are simply expected to do. There are drivers who cause problems for their dispatchers. My dispatcher refers to them as “needy” drivers. They can't seem to get anything done without him having to give them advice or encouragement several times per day. Successful drivers create a bond of trust with their support team.
A successful driver has his own motivation and drive. He gives it his all each and every day out here.We are people of action. Truck drivers are decisive, they are focused, they thrive on getting things accomplished. If we have three and a half days to get from Denver, CO over to Portland, Oregon, and then down to Los Angeles, CA in the dead of winter, the last thing on our mind is how much time we are going to have to enjoy ourselves doing something leisurely. We are going to bust our tail just to "git 'er done." We are not going to be wishing we could unionize ourselves and demand less stringent job requirements.
We love getting things accomplished, and if that requires sacrifices such as driving all night for three nights in the snow, we gladly take that bull by the horns and conquer it. We don't give excuses. We don't back down. "I can't," or "this is too hard" is not part of our conversation. We are doers. We leave the dreamers far behind us with each new sunrise. We don't back down, we don't give up, we are our own driving force, full of motivation and willingness. We are never satisfied until we've gotten the present task before us accomplished. At that point we are already eager for the next challenge. If we've worked seventy hours, we're wishing we could just get in another 15 to cap off a really nice week. We push all the limits, we are eager to get more done this week than we did the last. We are goal oriented. We create trust with our support staff by consistently getting things accomplished. That's how we roll!
Trust is an integral part of the trucking business. Think about it. There are investors who are trusting these publicly traded trucking companies to take care of their business by keeping their operating ratios at a reasonable level, and producing an acceptable level of profit in a very challenging business environment. There are literally millions of consumers who are trusting those same companies to make sure that what they want to purchase at the supermarkets or in the shopping malls across the country are readily available on the shelves.
It's funny, but most people never really think about how their favorite can of baked beans ever makes it to the grocery store shelf. Some farmer planted those beans, harvested them in his fields, and then loaded them onto an eighteen wheeler to sell them (in bulk) in the market place. Someone else purchased them, had them put into another eighteen wheeler and shipped to a food manufacturer such as “Van Camps.” There they cooked them, processed them, and packed them into the cans that were delivered by an eighteen wheeler. Oh yeah, and some flat-bed driver delivered some nice shiny coils of metal to that can manufacturing plant so that they could produce those food grade storage cans. I haven't even mentioned the distribution warehouse where the beans sat for a while after arriving there on an eighteen wheeler! Of course they left that warehouse on a big truck also. All of this takes place so that you can go to the store and purchase your favorite can of beans! There was a lot of trust taking place between many parties of people just to make sure that you and your kids could enjoy that seemingly insignificant little can of beans.
The whole trucking business gets all clogged up when people can't seem to get done what they are simply expected to do. There are drivers who cause problems for their dispatchers. My dispatcher refers to them as “needy” drivers. They can't seem to get anything done without him having to give them advice or encouragement several times per day. Successful drivers create a bond of trust with their support team.
A successful driver has his own motivation and drive. He gives it his all each and every day out here.We are people of action. Truck drivers are decisive, they are focused, they thrive on getting things accomplished. If we have three and a half days to get from Denver, CO over to Portland, Oregon, and then down to Los Angeles, CA in the dead of winter, the last thing on our mind is how much time we are going to have to enjoy ourselves doing something leisurely. We are going to bust our tail just to "git 'er done." We are not going to be wishing we could unionize ourselves and demand less stringent job requirements.
We love getting things accomplished, and if that requires sacrifices such as driving all night for three nights in the snow, we gladly take that bull by the horns and conquer it. We don't give excuses. We don't back down. "I can't," or "this is too hard" is not part of our conversation. We are doers. We leave the dreamers far behind us with each new sunrise. We don't back down, we don't give up, we are our own driving force, full of motivation and willingness. We are never satisfied until we've gotten the present task before us accomplished. At that point we are already eager for the next challenge. If we've worked seventy hours, we're wishing we could just get in another 15 to cap off a really nice week. We push all the limits, we are eager to get more done this week than we did the last. We are goal oriented. We create trust with our support staff by consistently getting things accomplished. That's how we roll!
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