During my time at the Charlotte Truck Show, I enjoyed meeting many new people. It was a beautiful fall weekend with sunshine and cooler temperatures. Unfortunately, this year the location for my truck was in the far outside corner of the show. I guess somebody needs to be in the back. I was definitely out of the main traffic path for viewers. However, I did manage to have some great conversations regarding the issues facing our industry today. Drivers had lots of questions about the Cascadia and the new technology which has been designed into the truck.
The show took place a couple weeks ago and I still keep thinking about a group of owner operators in particular which come to my mind. The gentlemen came over to look at the Cascadia and as we were having conversation, I couldn’t help but notice they seemed a bit “negative” in their attitude towards the trucking industry. One of the men said to me “Nothing matters because the job isn’t fun anymore.” This struck me as I thought to myself… what a horrible way to make a living. I really felt bad for this guy as he seemed totally defeated. What could I do to make him see the brighter side of trucking? I agree, there are many challenges we face in our industry, however, there are a lot of positive attributes to the job. I began to share with him some of the ways in which I make a game out of fuel mileage. I enjoy the challenge of seeing how much better I can do on fuel week to week, month to month and year to year. This challenge has enabled me to focus my efforts which have made fuel purchasing a profit center. My average fuel costs per mile remains .08 to .10 less than what fuel surcharge pays me.
I discussed with him that today, we have so much more offered to us than in years past. Our trucks are fully equipped with many luxuries drivers could only dream of. The old trucks would take a toll on your body. They were loud,uninsulated and uncomfortable.
I shared that a radio personality friend of mine once said to me during a discussion of the Good old days… “Do you know when the good old days are? They are right now.” We discussed how people look back and think how great the good old days were and forget the parts that weren’t so great during that time.
As this man and I continued our conversation, I noticed him perk up a bit and a smile came across his face. It seemed that the spirit was coming back. He admitted to me that “I was right and people seem to focus on the good things that happen in the past and selectively delete the bad things from our minds.”
When I look at our jobs, business and life in general, the journey to the end zone is typically not the enjoyable segment of the trip. The reward is in the end zone when you’ve made the touchdown.