down for the summer ...

as I recoup from a major back and neck surgery this summer I will be occupying my mind with as much advice and knowledge as I am physically able to put on this computer so .......... have fun listening

I will keep most post short and sweet not to confuse anyone and will answer questions as best I can ....

I have been posting little post to already existing ones here ... but I am getting tired of looking at some of the same old questions and stupid answers ...

I have been driving a short time and training for about half of that time ... so I have a very mixed bag of experience ...

what I have that many don't is 25+ years of management from the casino business that allowed me to fine tune my training skills long before I ever rolled into the trucking business ... so that being said ... so I don't bore anyone anymore ...

EVERYONE WANTS TO GET INTO THIS BUSINESS TO MAKE MONEY CORRECT?

so why doesn't that happen ...

too much crap gets in the way ... like 4 wheelers .... right?

it's a big plate and some just can't get past all the BS...

there is hope ... but it takes a huge commitment and a lot of very hard work ....

if you are not willing to get to those two points .... then why are you even reading this post ... seriously

Questions ..........

 

first of all ... I can tell just by your very first post that you are very frustrated with this situation and it's clouding your judgement ... clear your mind and start making good decisions...
Panic is a killer ... believe me I have been there

making good choices will be the best place to start ...

depending on your length of time on the road you need to shop around until someone pays you what YOU think you are worth .... don't just listen to a requiter ... that is a mistake ..

your cents per mile as a company driver is your first goal ...

there are a lot of companies out there willing to pay more for experience ... if no experience then you need to get through your "rookie" status ... we all did it

then it's a matter of communication ... talking to your Driver Manager and telling him what you expect from him is the best approach ... most say they know what it's like out there on the road... but most don't ....

keeping yourself one step ahead of the entire game plan has worked for me ... my DM is usually 1 step behind me ... meaning I just get the crap done ... work hard ... go beyond anyone's expectations ... even yours ... you will be surprised

from day one at my current company I told DM that I will be the driver you will never need to worry about ... I keep the left door closed ... and get it from point a to point b ... end of story ...

staying focused on a task is very hard for people ...

I was trained years ago at a leadership conference my casino sent to that cost a boat load of money ... and i learned to focus ... on a task

don't get distracted ... it's easy to do ... doesn't matter what it is ... small task ... big task ... doesn't matter .... just stay focused and do it .........

so how do you do that when you have 1500 miles ahead of you before your next stop ...

think about it ... that's when you should be getting on your DM about your next load .... hey ... what you got waiting for me when I get this load unloaded ...

SQUEAKY WHEELS GET THE MILES IN THIS BUSINESS ... NEVER SHUT UP ...

I'll tell you a story

I ended up in Boise on a saturday night ... got unloaded ... sat around all day sunday .... nothing ....
monday i called my DM the very minute he walked in the door ... he said give me 20 min... i will call you back ... I fell asleep ... woke up at noon and called him back saying ... wow that was a long 20 min... then I started getting all the excuses ... ... i cut him off and told him I was going to give him an hour to find me a load ... and if i didn't have a load in 1 hour i was going to call him every 10 on the phone until he had one for me ... he said hold on a second... minute later he picks up and says ... I got a load that will be in the boise yard in an hour going to so cal... i said ... good .... we never had that type of conversation again... see my point

it's not what you expect ... it's what you accept...

 

I too wanted to get a local job after my time running the 48...but I hit a lot of roadblocks ... pay was the big one and they would have one local job pop up in my area and they would hire the driver with 24 years on the road... well it doesn't take much to figure that one out ...

so my point is in this whole grand scheme problems you are faced with everyday it comes down to this

focus on a solution ... do not focus on the problem

if you don't like the results of the decision you made ... use a different approach ...

words to live by ...

 

believe me I could talk all day about the trucking business and how to make money ... and I am not going to spend a minute on this.
<My post was edited because I didn't follow the community rules>