Stacking the deck in your favor Pt 2: Getting started on the right foot.

This is a continuation of
Stacking the deck in your favor.

I hope all the other experienced drivers chime in. However, we are going to have to cut to the chase...I'm not writing this for people that have problems with drugs and alcohol. I dont care about the medical benefits of weed. If you are trying to figure out a way to do your dope and drive a truck, go ahead and click on my name and then click the ignore tab, because it is doubtful that you will ever hear anything from me that will benefit you.
If you are looking into trucking because you need a place to live, go ahead and ignore me.
If the toughest thing you've ever done in life is wipe your arse, go ahead and ignore me.
If half the people you meet call you Stupid, go ahead and ignore me. Stupid is the choice you made and I have no sympathy for you.

So, you want to truck. Thats cool. I dont want you to just be satisfied with a job, I want you to be good at what you do. Now, if you have done drugs in the past, and want to clean up, LISTEN UP, there's only one way to do that correctly. Cut all of your friends that you do drugs with. Cut them. Lose them.

"But they're my friends, Six. They've been there for me through the worst parts of my life."

I had a friend that was the best Nissan mechanic in the area. Had his own shop. Good dude. He was beating the pants off of the dealership's 2 shops. However, he was hooked on OCs. Well, one day he decided to clean up. Got back in the gym, his work improved, marriage improved, business improved instantly. But I told him that in order to stay clean, he would have to lose his OC friends. He couldnt do that because they were friends for so long. Well, they started hanging out at his shop offering him free OCs. What do you think happened. 2 days after they started hanging back at the shop, they got him back on it. And he fell hard. Once he fell, his friends didnt come by anymore. Well, I had to cut him lose. So did his wife. He lost his shop and had to go get a job at the dealer. But he couldnt pass a drug test long enough to keep a job.

Want to be successful? Cut the dead weight. Whoever and whatever is weighing you down, cut it.

The Wife
The divorce rate is high in the States. It's even higher for truckers. Why is that?
1.There is no trust
2. You are not taking care of your lady's emotional needs.
3. You are a piss poor listener

You dont have to cheat to lose the wife's trust. All you have to do is not keep your word. To speak as a Man, you must mean what you say and say what you mean. If you tell Mama that you will be home on Friday, BE HOME ON FRIDAY. I dont care how much money they throw on that load. Do what you said you would do. By doing so, you set a pattern. Both the wife and the job will know that you are the Man if you always keep your word. For a woman to be happy she has to have full confidence in you as a Man.

Ever hear some driver sitting on the toilet telling his wife everything from how many turds he laid in the bowl to what hand he wiped with? His wife lacks confidence in him and so this is what he has to do.

"Do women reaaallly want to know this stuff, Six?"

No. That's just her way of keeping tabs of his dumb arse. You know how you feel when you dont get enough rest? Irritable and grouchy? Women get that way when they cant relax. Its like trying to fall asleep in a chair with a broken leg. Yes, you can sit in it, but you can NEVER relax.

It doesn't matter if you are OTR or local. if there's no trust or confidence in you, there's going to be problems.

"YOU NEVER LISTEN TO ME!"

Have you "heard" this before? Or did you LISTEN?



Speaking of listening, the vast majority of you cannot remember a 7 digit phone number. When you go to trucking school and orientation, theres that 1 guy with a million and one questions. Not saying there's something wrong with asking questions, but no one should have to ask why he should tie his shoes. No one should have to tell you how to use mirrors, or following distance. There's a huge difference between HEARING and LISTENING. Theres a huge difference between SEEING and FOCUS. Work at listening. Make it a point to remember names. You will find that you get better and better to the point to where you can read people without them speaking. No need for questions.

 

The A-Game

If you can focus and listen, learning becomes quite easy. Especially trucking. Theres posts on TTR about shifting. The weak minded will look for companies with all automatics. The A Game driver will make it a point to be able to drive anything with wheels and an engine. Go to a truck stop and watch and listen. You can tell by the sounds when someone is doing it right and when theyre doing it wrong. If they're jacking the truck too hard, the suspension, chassis, frame even will make popping noises. If the guy is forcing the gears, you will hear the grind. If he's a lead foot, you can tell. But how doe's it sound when the driver is doing it right? Smoooooooooooth. Beat on a truck and you will stay in the shop. That hurts your money.

When you get in the truck with the instructor, LISTEN....you can tell if he knows his craft. Same thing goes with a trainer. Can you listen to how they do it, and then do it with the same touch? If you're trying to force yourself upon the girl, she's going to resist. The instructor is talking to you while operating the truck. Can you listen to him and the truck at the same time? If when he's talking, he starts grinding gears, he's not a good listener.

I dont want you to be satisfied with getting your CDL and getting a job. I want you to be good at what you do. Why? Some of us get paid for what we know, as well as what we do. If you want to get into some of the better paying gigs like tanker, LTL, car hauling or heavyhaul, you have to actually be able to drive well. That stupid stuff that you see guys do, like starting off in too high a gear, or tailgating, or reving the engine and dumping the clutch, or going around curves too fast, anyone one of those I just mentioned will get you killed in a hurry.

Continue to Improve

So, they're putting stuff in cars and trucks for motorist so that they do not have to pay attention. This is going to backfire. The skill level will become extinct. And when the electronics fail (and they do fail), sudden death. 1 big solar flare and the navigation satellites will be temporarily blinded. The vast majority will be useless and helpless. The guys and gals who kept their skills up wont miss a beat.

 

I'd wager that the majority of the conflicts between the trainers and students stems from an inability to listen to simple directions.

 

@MrEd...any comments?