As you may have discovered from my blog last week, I made a switch in my status as an independent contractor and decided to contract to a new carrier. This was not a decision that was easy to make, as a lot of things change when you decide to switch something of this magnitude. Along with things such as having no revenue being earned during the transition period and making sure to leave my old contract on good terms was another fun realization…I was now going from being a veteran at one company to being the new kid on the block at another!
This type of transition goes on all the time and is the reason that companies hold orientations. Needless to say, it has been quite some time since I had to attend one of these training sessions, since I was contracted to my last carrier for over three and a half years. An orientation is an expected part of new hiring or contracting to a carrier by both experienced and inexperienced drivers. The difference I noticed lies in the mindset between those with experience and those without. A lot of inexperienced drivers, or those without a lot of experience, know that they must be acclimated to the new company’s policies and procedures. What a lot of experienced drivers seem to think they don't need these classes and also fail to realize that these classes can also offer them valuable tips and training that they might not have known before.
Having attended orientation this week for my new business partner, I had a first-hand look into how these sessions can benefit even the most experienced drivers out there. Since I am a big proponent of adaptation and survival of the fittest within our industry, I believe that any form of training learned that I did not know before can only be beneficial if applied in the right context of my business. Not only was I able to learn about the new policies and procedures, but also I was able to learn some new safe-driving techniques and peer into the technology yet to come that will make my business more efficient.
All successful companies know it takes getting the load there safely and on-time to increase profits and build their business. Where a lot of them happen to fail is in finding the space in between safe and on-time. In my research of choosing a new carrier I paid special attention to look at this key area of what drives success. During orientation, I discovered a perfect marriage of these two things in having many days devoted to safety training and a commitment to quality that drives both the success of my business and theirs. I was able to actually learn about and be certified in the SMITH System of driving and not just receive some pamphlets on it and hear how it could improve my safety if used correctly. On top of that, it was nice knowing that they were not hesitant on enforcing their safety policies and taking action against unsafe practices. I was also able to learn about their EOBR system and see the vast difference in efficiency it offered versus my old EOBR system. For those that had never used an EOBR system, some even after ten or more years of driving, this was a part of the curriculum that could not be overlooked.
Getting to spend a few days in this orientation class, seeing all forms of experience and driver types, opened my eyes to certain things. I was able to see some experienced drivers that had worked for other companies that might not have been so thoroughly trained, or worked for companies that were not so devoted to driver success. It is sad to say that some of them were a little lost to say the least. Some of the questions they asked made me wonder how they had been driving out there all this time and had not managed to get in trouble for the way they were doing things all along. Did the company they were working for before just give them the keys then kick them out the door and right into a truck? I guess what I am trying to say is, no matter how much you think you know from all your years of driving and learning the hard way, you never know everything! If you think you do know everything there is to know about trucking, you just might find yourself being the one asking all the questions in your next orientation when you realize you really don’t. In order to succeed in this industry, even old dogs have to learn new tricks occassionaly!