$6 million dollar trucker...how to succeed in the transportation industry...

Today while getting a physical exam...



A guy walks in...and tells them he needed a uralisis for such and such a company....
The lady asked him..."Are you a truck driver?"

And his response was "Ye, unfortunatly"....

Why do I bring that up?

1. There were other people in the waiting room who heard his less than enthusiastic view of his profession and himself...

2. If this driver doesn't like himself or what he does, and willing to say so publically, one can only imagine how they relate to other drivers on the road...

This 'self loathing' spirit that seems to permiate with some, is not healthy...cause if they don't think much of themselves, or what they do, than they will reflect that self loathing onto other drivers...

And that's why I was disappointed in that driver for airing public laundry like that out in the open...


I can understand him being frustrated with the industry...but to sling it around in a neutral location the way he did today, inside that clinic, I found totally unessisary...

As far as the other waiting in the room, being a professional driver may be honorable in their view, like a pilot or heavy equiptment operator...

I mean you never heard anyone else, in other proffesions blurt out...

'Ye, unfortunatly I'm a officer', or 'Ye, unfortunatly I'm a store manager'...

No other trade really has employees who publically 'self loath' the way trucking does...

(and I don't mean onling rants on trucking boards, I'm talking in public settings where the enviornment is nuetral)...

I almost said something...but was like 'nah'...

But this drivers self loathing attitude about his trade, and his place in it, is also telling about how many are made to feel about themselves, when immersed in the OTR to long...

If your not careful, it really can slowly begin to chip away at your moral, and self esteem and sense of self-importance...

Cause often times in the industry, many drivers are never given decision making power...(unless they're independent)...with choice comes power and control...or more of it...

Many drivers feel, and some are, used soley for labor, and nothing more...where people half your age are making important decision, that somehow they feel your not 'witty' enough to be let in on....

And maybe down the line...I'll share a few things with you on here...that might make you think about crossing over into the other side of logistics...you'll see that there's a lot easier ways of making money in this industry than spending weeks and months on the road every year...(unless that's what you love to do)...

Anyways...like I said...this thread is hopefully going to be about becoming that $6 million dollar trucker...or giving it our best shot....

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7zNY0I5JNI&list=FLS9GnEaRpw6huxiSiaOKFpw&index=3&feature=plpp_video[/ame]

Many of you drivers have deliberatly been kept out of the loop on a lot of things...kept 'dumb' on purpose...cause the people making money off of your backs need you to remain where you are and be content...

More on that later...

 

I met a man today who paid all of $1000.00 for his truck....and only put about another $2000.00 in it to get it going....

He now drives the truck and has since more than made back his money...

Some rules to success based on the above...

Make up your mind what you want to do...
a.look good, and make no money

b. not have the prettiest truck, no payment, and earn lot's of cash...

It's a city truck...that helps...but they still do well for themselves...

And others at this location paid similuar for there trucks too...

This idea that you gotta get into dept, and buy brand new truck or expensive used truck, is over hyped...

You can get an older truck like this day cab here...



And hire on with a local company...and earn the same amount of money as someone with a new KW...with no payments....

You can find these all over the place from 2-5,000 bucks...just gotta look...look in like those nickel trader type publications, or those farmer trader publications...they're out there...and many foreign drivers buy them up, and make money, and in 2 years, have a fleet of 5 trucks underneath them....

Cause they're practical...and patient....traits many of us have lost...

$1000.00 bucks for his truck...wow...

 

Also...later on down the road in this thread...i also want to slowly introduce readers to the 'broker' side logistics...and explain to you why you get a lot more 'bang' to your buck on that side of the trade matrix...

Being a broker is an alternative that many drivers never consider, or just considers way over their head or knowledge, but I don't know about you, but I've spoken to some brokers (broker agents) that sound like Gomer Pile...and some that are anywhere from 21-25....if they can do it, so can you...don't sell yourself short...

The point is is to retire with a healthy body and mind...not to be all tore up and on meds, the way some driving routes will leave you...

Imagine if you could earn 2-10 times more than one single driver...and all while operating out of your house, with a view of the mountains...



I don't know about you, but I can't be climbing in and out of a truck for the rest of my life...there's easier ways to earn a living, that are much less stressful on the body...
And that's something to seriously think about...cause what is life without your health?
And there's a lot of people prospering off your labor...while you toil in the rain, sleet, and heat...they sit back and earn in a 5 minute deal, what you have to drive for days to make....
Sure...if ya like driving just to drive, than fine...

But if you realize that life is short, and time is premium, and money is key to obtaining a certain level of comfort and security (at least in this world), than why would you want to drag out the time to earn in 1 week, what you could earn in 6 hours or less?

I want to help some of you...I'm just not sure how yet...

I may create a seperate web site just for that...oh it would be a cheap one...but it's not the site that matters, it's the information given that counts...

I currently have a web site set up where I could do the same...but some of you might find my 'art' a bit distracting...so I'm not sure if I want to go there or not...

I'll think of something...but for now I'll just consintrate on the driving end of logistics...

 

Thanks rocks....thanks for that comment...

But I'm not a politition....

I haven't really 'changed'...I've just 'adjusted'....

For my own sake....

Believe me you, I still have much I could rant and rave about...not about induvisual trucking companies, but rather about the 'industry'....

But for my own sake, right now, I choose not too...not here anyways...

And I meant everything I ever wrote on the other thread, or I wouldn't of wrote it...

It needed to be expressed, but you have to let stuff out, in order to move on...

That's how you stay real...

That's why I have such writing longevity, cause I'm always real...through the good and bad...

If your real, people connect, if you try to come off as a politition...well...

Alot of what I write on here, and will share in the future, is driven by that 'other' thread....

Like leaving someone you love behind in a dark alley



You know what they went through...you were there with them...through the grit, the rain, the mud, the abuse...
Only now you have a chance to leave...but they can't...but they tell you too...

You don't want to, but they tell you to 'go, and make good on your promise to succeed, for the both of us'....

So you leave them...but promise yourself you will succeed for them....

And we all have that other side we have left behind in such a place...it's our past...and sometimes our past is 'beat up'....

But out of love and self preservation of self, we move on...not ever forgetting, rather just moving on...

And often it's that past, that inspires us to do better in the here and now...that promise we made to 'self' to succeed...so that all that we went through in that dark alley wasn't in vain....

And with that...I say let the sun shine and lets move on....

 

Not all, but I certainly see where many of the 'old dogs' are or went, over the last few days...

And many of them are working local jobs...many of those old timers I use to mention alot on other threads...I'd be like 'where did they go?'....well now I know...or at least I know where some of them went...

They simply took their old beaters or trucks, and started hauling local containers, or rail ect ect...

There trucks have long since been paid for, and are fine for city work or county work ect ect...

And many are a joy and delight to work around...and being around them reminds me of how it felt when I first started...those same 'hippi/cowboy' personalities that made OTR such a joy at one time...

When you see these guys working, grinding it out day in day out, it's an inspiration...and you feel 'bad' for not even being half their age, and complaining of aching joints or back...these guys don't complain at all...they could be missing a leg, and still show up to work...

And it rubs off on you...soon you find yourself stop complaining and doing like them...

And that's what's missing now days with OTR driving...that connection between old and new...that handing down of generational tradition and work ethic.

Older drivers, were like mentors to the newer generation of drivers...
But that line has been cut, sliced, and explains much of what goes on out on the road....

There's just something inspirering about being around someone, who's been doing what you've been doing, but for 10-20-30 years longer and still going strong, and I'm around that now, and it does help...

Call it a 'spiritual' element if you want...not in a church way...but in a...secular way...it just helps...
In other words it's not something that can be measured with a physical tool...

It's what i was missing out there on the road...there was no interaction...and I realize now you really do need that...(or at least some do)...

Kind of like a squadron of fighter airplanes going on a mission...



when that mission is, was over, they don't just all go back to their seperate quarters and lock the door...no...instead they related to one another, compared notes, congradulated and inspired...

As it should be with any group or people your working around, share common ground with.

And with the kind of driving I'm doing now...you get a bit of that...and it helps, at least for me it does...

When i see guys twice my age hoping in and out of their truck they've owned for 20 years, it's kind of hard for me to complain about anything around them...

Anyways...at work right now...

 

I can't go to bed tonight without sharing this story about a Schneider driver I met today as I was leaving reciever...


I goof around a lot with people...and as I was walking past a bobtail Schneider truck...I motioned with my arms and yelled...

'Hey why don't you get your own truck'...

I was just being silly to the driver...then they opened the door, and it was a younger Hispanic male...like 23-28...but looked more like 25...


Either that or they were Cuban...I don't know...I just know they could of passed for Caucasion, but had that Ricky Ricardo type of Cuban accent or Texas accent...again...I don't know...


Anyways...to my delight, they were very friendly and full of smiles and positive energy...slim practical fella wearing jeans and cowboy boots...

We got to talking about owning truck vs being company driver...they told me they had been with Schneider for 4 years...and had just purchased a brand new house...




I was so happy for them...it's one of those things where you just had to of been there...

Here was this still young driver, working for Schneider, who simply stuck it out, stayed with them for 4 years, and kept his credit good, was able to buy a house...and still had a great wonderful attitude about life, his job, and his future...it just rubbed off on me...and they kept shaking my hand as they appreciated me taking time to answer their questions...

Success comes in sticking with things...don't jump around...resist the urge to job hop every other month...(believe me, I know)...

Alot of people I see who are successful simply 'stuck it out'...and kept their finances in order, and are now in a position to write their own ticket...going on age 26...not because they're smarter or better, but simply because they stuck it out...and saw the big picture...

I enjoyed this ecounter today with this latino guy, because he demonstrated that even with a company like Schneider, your dreams can come true...

I don't even know if they're married or not...but they were just so happy and jubilant to be alive...

Now if you read about Schneider on here, you'd think Schneider was one of the worst companies ever to work for...but yet this young man was able to buy a house, and continues to prosper with the company...

Which tells me, once again, that it all comes down to having a plan and a positive attitude to go along with that plan...

(I actually wrote this yesterday, but never posted it)

 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7zNY0I5JNI[/ame]

I told u to never give up on your dreams...it's on....

I didn't want to post anymore, until I reached phase 1...
But now it's on...
Details later...tonight I just want to celebrate...

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