I started off the year
questioning whether new technology being adapted by the trucking
industry can have a positive effect on safety if it increases the
amount of stress on a driver. I moved on to the driver shortage and
its effect on an aging driver pool. Last month I talked about
incentive programs for drivers. The common factor in my columns this
year has been the time pressure I feel as a driver and how new
technology, heavy workloads, and the actions of others effect it.
Add in the time demands of my personal life and it's not surprising
that I'm left feeling fatigued and stressed out. So what actions can
I take on a daily basis to cope with these time pressures? It's not
within my circle of influence to make these time pressures go away
but I can find ways to cope with the resulting stress, it's effect on
my well being, and have a positive influence on the people that make
decisions effecting my time.
The best thing I find
that I can do is to take pride in what I do each and everyday. Pride
in the sense of the pleasure and satisfaction I take in my
profession. Taking pride in my skills and experience is one of the
most powerful ways to have a positive influence not only on my own
attitude but on the level of respect I receive from my peers, my
employer, the general public, and customers. When you earn respect
for the level of professionalism, skill, and effort you bring to your
work each day the people you deal with place a much higher value on
your time as a result. It's a simple and powerful way to increase my
influence over others whose decisions or actions have a direct effect
on how my days play out.
There are three simple
ways I believe you can show off your professionalism as a commercial
driver:
- Show pride in your ride and the company you work for
- Show pride in your driving skills
- Show pride in the level of customer service you offer
Showing pride in your
ride and speaking in a positive way about the people you work for or
the company you represent (that might be yourself) always gets
peoples attention in a positive way. This is not a difficult thing
to do. Other drivers notice, the company you are signed on with
recognizes you as someone with a “positive” attitude as do your
customers, and you carry a positive image down the highway in the
eyes of the general public and enforcement.
Showing pride in how
you drive is the best way to get positive attention from the
traveling public. Courtesy is something that is contagious. If pride
in driving skill becomes a standard for all drivers within the
company you work for pretty soon that big company logo traveling down
the road earns a whole new level of respect from all drivers. How you
drive determines your safety rating, safety bonuses, and reputation
as a professional driver within your own company, again, earning you
respect for how you drive. How you drive determines whether the
freight gets to the customer in one piece and on time. How you drive
is the determining factor in how you are judged by other commercial
drivers and all levels of enforcement.
Showing pride in the
level of customer service you offer is an area that can have the
greatest overall impact on your available time and the value others
place on it. Service, after all, is the product that we are actually
providing to shippers and receivers. If you do a dedicated run or
local work the ability to call on the same businesses repeatedly and
deal with the same people week after week is a huge advantage when it
comes to using your time efficiently. Stress is reduced when you know
where you are going and who you are dealing with. You are able to
factor in the knowledge you gain from experience and know when to
show up, when not to show up, how to access difficult facilities and
so on. There is also a great feeling in getting a pat on the back in
the form of a simple and genuine thank you from the people you deal
with on a regular basis. That's something I missed when I was doing
open board work. If you do open board work your company name will go
a long way in getting you looked after when your fellow drivers take
the same pride as you do in their daily responsibilities.
So taking pride in what
you do may not solve all the day to day problems or eliminate all the
obstacles but in the long term it can pay big dividends.
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