Making decisions

If you decide to be an A Hole, be the King of A Holes.

 

Have you ever been rolling in the rig in the right lane, traffic to your left, and a line of traffic coming on the on ramp? Yes, we do this every minute of our day. Your mind is wired to make blink of an eye decision. Click click click, rapid fire, 30 decisions made in 1 second. You’ve adjusted your speed to allow the traffic to merge. BUT, somethings wrong. There is a car on the ramp that is indecisive. He can’t decide where to get on. Does he get in front of you or behind you? You adjust again.

“BLAST IT ALL TO HELL, HE’S GOING TO STOP!”

You can’t stop. You’re on the big road and your coming to a halt would be extremely dangerous. The ONLY reason that you ever stop is when traffic has stopped in front of you. So, you decide to keep going. “Sorry folks. You guys should learn how to merge.”

BamBamBamBamBam 6 car pile up.

Most cars are driven by indecisive people. Then they see trucks and think that they can drive. If you are having difficulty getting your car on the highway, how are you going to do a truck?

You have to program the mind to make rapid fire decisions. It’s like a fighter’s stance. In boxing, it’s NOT the hands that’s important, it’s the feet. Ever watch how they turn and pivot? That’s why they call it dancing. The fighter that can not adjust as quickly is going to get KTFO.

Write this down, new people...you will hear this term a lot in the trucking industry:
A steeringwheelholder is a person that’s driving a big rig that cannot make adjustments fast enough to drive a truck safely.

A DRIVER is a person that can make the mental adjustment to drive anything on planet earth.

A Trucker is the organic part of a truck.

Ever see what a fighter can do to the average person? In a scuffle, he will beat down 3-5 opponents.
If you’re running down the road on an open highway, no problem, right? A 3 year old can hold a steering wheel and go down the road in the Midwest. Put him in a major metropolitan area and a 3 year old will not make 30 feet. Why not? You have to make to many adjustments too quickly. Every adjustment requires a decision. Rapid fire.

Bad weather, slick roads, rain. Braindeads playing in traffic. You must make adjustments constantly.

Wiggle wagons, tanker yankers, heavy haul. When steeringwheelholders slip through the cracks and get into one of these wagons, the results are catastrophic. The guys that do well can make adjustments in their sleep.

Shipper asks you, “How do you want it loaded?” CLICK, decision made. In our line of work, it’s usually loaded with a crane. You look at the load as it’s lifted by the crane. You show them how far back you want the load first, then you step to either the rear of the trailer or up on the catwalk and get it loaded evenly. Some loads are not even, the weight may be on one side or 1 end. You load it evenly for weight if it’s heavy. And you have a whole crew of riggers and the crane operator looking to you for a decision. Get it wrong, and it can potentially bite your arse off.