I have observed a lot of truck drivers during my trucking career. With both empathy and agony, I have listened to their tales of woe at the truck stops, lunch counters, and driver lounges all across this great country. Can I speak plainly with you? Most truck drivers are unhappy. They feel maligned, mistreated, and just plain dis-respected. For most of them, the rewards received are simply not worth the sacrifices and risks required to execute the job. I have never fallen into that camp, and I am convinced there’s a reason why.
Let me also make it clear that when I was a rookie driver I listened to other drivers complaints and would often feel myself being lured into their unfortunate outlook on this career. It seemed everything they said resonated with me in some form or fashion. After all, who really wants to be away from their families for weeks at a time? Is it really a nomadic dream life to sleep in a truck each night? I knew the frustrations of just trying to find some place to park at ten o’clock at night, and yes, I found those things very frustrating myself.
I still remember this time I was tarping a load of steel at about midnight. I noticed the driver next to me who had just picked up his load before me. As he was tarping, he was dragging his feet and his shoulders hung low as though he were completely dejected. I still remember him raising his voice to speak to me. “This job sucks the life out of you,” he declared. He said it with authority, as if I should certainly know and agree with his assessment. The absurdity of his statement struck me hard. I was quite happy to be there at midnight. The coolness of the evening was refreshing to me while laboring at my chosen profession. As I was stretching my tarps tight, I was excitedly running calculations in my head as to how I was going to use the split sleeper berth provision to enable me to get my load delivered early. That way I would be available for a really nice load early on Friday. I knew once all that came together I was going to put an additional 400 dollars on my paycheck that week.
Your outlook has a profound effect on your outcome. The driver who is convinced “this job sucks the life out of you” will be plagued with poor results. His paychecks will always seem insufficient, his efforts will invariably be extremely laborious, and his satisfaction with his job will be nonexistent. I have always felt it very important that people should find satisfaction and fulfillment in their occupation. It doesn’t matter to me if you are a simple laborer pushing a wheelbarrow through a muddy construction site. If you are determined to be the best at commandeering a wheelbarrow, you will find yourself quite happy with your results. There is simply no way to have a fulfilling career when you are miserable at it. Your miserableness blinds you to the possibilities that lie waiting for you to capitalize on them.
Goals have a way of encouraging you to reach higher levels of performance and satisfaction. I am very much a goal oriented person. The truck driving career appealed to me because it followed a model that I had repeatedly taught to my employees during the years that I was a business operator. That model is sometimes referred to as “performance based pay.” Basically the employee gets to determine how much money he makes by producing effective results. As a person reaches the initial goals they have set for themselves, they begin to see how much more potential they actually have. I remember when I started to earn around a thousand dollars a week as a truck driver. That seemed like pretty decent money for what I was doing. Then it also opened my eyes to how much money I was leaving on the table through my own inefficiencies.
I had reached my goals, but there was still more that was almost begging to be accomplished. I could see it now. There was no reason it had to stay beyond my reach. It took me a few years, but soon enough I had almost doubled that income that I was content with before. By reaching my goals, I could see the potential that was still out there. I wasn’t bound by my own self declared delusions of how miserable this career was. I was free to pursue excellence and prove I was capable of obtaining it. There’s nothing so liberating as freeing yourself from “group think.”
Truckers really limit their own satisfaction and income potential by commiserating with each other all the time. When is the last time you heard a fellow driver tell you how he’s set a goal to increase his income this year by ten thousand dollars? More than likely you heard something like, “I am looking for another company. This one just doesn’t have the miles I need to make a living. They treat me like I’m just a number, and they could care less whether I’m making it or not.” Most truck drivers hamstring themselves with their own low aspirations. They are mediocre performers who don’t recognize their own potential. I can assure you that their employer has ample opportunity for them to succeed. Very seldom is it actually the company’s fault when a driver is a low performer. Does that bother you when I say that? I am convinced that is a hard truth we all need to learn. Mediocrity reaps no rewards. Almost every truck driver I know has switched companies multiple times, only to switch again when they find they are still disillusioned.
You won’t catch me telling you how bad my company is. They gave me opportunity and I gave them results. This is the formula for success at trucking. The driver has to produce. The burden is upon the driver, and it is a great opportunity for him to prove his mettle. Drivers who settle for less get less. Never settle on mediocrity. Motivate yourself to excel. I promise you, success at trucking is within your grasp. Courage reaches out and takes hold of success.
