A driver I have been mentoring since he started driving alone a little over a year ago is starting to lose daily desire. He has been moaning about the loads, requesting increasingly more time off, and failing to leave on time after being given the load assignment for the last several months. He said, “I had not had a decent load in a long time,” when I tried to talk about this with him. Our fleet manager only gives me light loads and does not encourage me to run hard.
I tried my best to explain to the driver why he complained about parking when appointments were at midnight. If the appointments are made throughout the day, he laments the traffic. He argues that he does not have enough time to transport lengthy loads and is not being paid for little loads. It is impossible to please this motorist.
This driver was a “run hard, get it done” 3000-mile-a-week driver for several months, which is the genuinely tragic aspect of the whole issue. He is skilled at time management and recognizes the importance of meeting clients on time. He is, however, consistently arriving at his loads later and later, to the point that the cargo is in danger. I am not sure whether he is simply being lazy or if he seemed to be a hard worker before, but now his real motives are coming out.
For example, he was given two full driving shifts to complete an 800-mile load. Doing that ought to have been simple. Later he contacted me to let me know they had not loaded me till 14:30. Dispatching may disregard it if they believe I am about to leave. I am returning to bed rather than waiting in traffic for work.
Since he continued refusing loads and whining, he had already been sitting for more than 24 hours. The driver departed sixteen hours later, boasting that he would run the load in early and dump it. There wasn’t any way he could get in early since he did not give himself enough time to be at the appointment on time. He kept repeating, “I will either violate to get it in or maybe I will just notify dispatch to have another driver meet me,” during the journey. Let them handle it; it is their issue.
He is wrong. His task and issue are to get the load in on time.
He makes the error of expecting dispatch to provide incentives. That will not happen, I tell you. Either a person has a strong sense of work ethic, or they don’t. Either they can do tasks on their own, or they need assistance. An extraordinary individual may periodically slow down and revert to being average, but a mediocre person can never consistently maintain greatness. You need to find the motivation inside to perform at your best for an extended time. Blaming others will not solve your problems, and your mileage will decrease if you perform poorly.
The Value Of Goal Setting
Every employer has a different training schedule, and mine was especially challenging. I needed to remind myself that I had set financial goals to keep me motivated during in the training. I was so impoverished that declaring bankruptcy was out of the question. I treated training like a boot camp, and I persevered through it to go it alone and earn money.
I often used the Credit Karma app to overcome my inexperience-related irritation over my errors. I was inspired to continue my trucking career after seeing how my credit score increased. I subsequently began contributing 20% of my income to my 401(k), and shortly after, my financial concerns subsided, easing my everyday stress. Things like locking oneself out of the vehicle no longer seemed like catastrophic errors.
My drive altered once my finances were under control. I wanted to be left alone, so I gave it my all while running aggressively to please my fleet manager. I do not need a micro-managing dispatcher telling me what to do. Working for the government, I would have had enough of it. I won my Fleet Manager’s confidence and, more crucially, managed to keep far out of his sight by proving I could fix problems while freeing him up to focus on pressing matters.
He only looks for my vehicle on his computer screen when the message “Empty—Waiting for Load Assignment” lights next to my truck number. I once phoned him simply to say hello and let him know I missed him after two solid months without speaking to him. “How about a 2000-mile haul to California,” he added after laughing. That I will take!
What Motivates You?
A driver I have been seeing picks up his cargo as soon as possible and parks as near to the recipient as feasible. To get there quicker, he nearly always extends his 11-hour journey time. What was his reason? He wants the day off. He often can run a load, arrive 24 hours early, or even complete a 34-hour reset.
Another buddy creates an up with an open and schedules time to visit museums, casinos, or hiking trails near some of the rest stops. Another driver schedules his journeys to include time for supper at the end because he is fixated on visiting steakhouses worldwide. Another one of my friends sprints as quickly as he can to get home and see his wife.
Christian, a member of our forum, said when I asked him what drives him, “I want plenty of certificates of gratitude with Ben Franklin on the front. Show me the money, please.
These drivers all do their tasks.
Setting objectives for yourself can help you discover methods to make the most of your time traveling while also gaining money and the respect of people. But, avoid being one of those idiots who park 100 miles from a receiver for 30 hours, goes golfing, and then only gives himself two hours to go through Atlanta traffic. After spending the day at the beach or in a pool, there is no justification for a service failure. Enjoy yourself, but remember that this is still work.
Burnout Can Happen to a Skilled Driver Too
It is simple for inexperienced drivers to feel like giving up. Too many false turns, difficulty backing into a port or parking spot, and dealing with common trucking problems like blown tires will drain your mental energy. It might leave you feeling inadequate or seem like a never-ending flood of bad things. Be careful to address your burnout since it might cause you to lose focus on your objectives when you miss home and feel like life is passing you by.
I sometimes feel the desire to book a hotel room. Having room service and a jacuzzi suite allows me to escape the constant commotion that truck driving entails. It is a wonderful change of pace and makes me feel “normal” to sometimes take an Uber to a mall or park. As I am back on the road, I think of my previous jobs when I experienced managerial harassment or depended on “bum” coworkers to help me with my work. The more adept I get as a driver, the more control I have over how dispatch operates me. My lease and owner-operators find it extremely difficult to comprehend, but I am essentially my boss without the hassle and hassle. Please leave me alone and let me know where I am meant to go.
Ultimately, a driver is mostly responsible for what he accomplishes, even finding the desire to continue each day. You need to maintain a specific mentality, whether you entered the trucking industry to escape a hopeless career or to pay off past-due payments. One of the loneliest occupations in the world is driving a truck since no one else is in charge of you and can inspire you. So take care of yourself!