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"Success comes to all those that make the effort to attain it."
I was just finishing a class and a women walked in with a question. I politely told her to go ahead and she asked a general question about a dispatch position in the transportation industry. I gave her the answer as I knew it and we began to talk about the industry in general. That's where it started, she began with verbal diarrhea. She told me she was in this truck training course because she had a boyfriend that had been a truck driver. She had driven his truck numerous times, her family had a trucking business so she learned from her parents how to treat truck drivers. The tone was not positive. When I asked about her dispatch experience she told me she hadn't any but did invoicing and had to deal with drivers, and again learned how to put them in their place.
Someone like that is exactly what we don't need in our industry, the day of the cowboys are gone. We probably all have a friend like that or know someone like that which is always trying to make sure they are one up on whatever you do. You buy a bag of milk and they buy two. My worry is a person with a closed mind thinking they know it all and learning from people that really don't know what they are doing themselves is the big problem. In my book Running By The Mile the first thing I talk about is listening to others. One of the main problems I hear when talking to new applicants is that they have talked to someone who is negative about the business. Someone told them they wouldn't make money. I know plenty of people making money in the trucking business and I can go to many companies and find two business owners, one going bankrupt, and the other making a good income. The difference is for those that choose to run like a business or those that have no idea where their money is going. The decision is which business owner are you? Open your mind, listen to people who are in business and have the experience and you will do fine. In business it is said to listen to people who are where you want to go, not the ones stuck at the side of the road.
About the Author
Bruce Outridge is a transportation consultant and author of the book "Running By The Mile." More information can be found on Bruce at www.outridge.ca
Everyone has a comfort zone and it's easy to stay in a place that is warm and cozy and closed off to threats, you can feel protected in a place like that, but are you really? Often that type of environment gives a false hope of what is really happening in your life. This is especially true in business and careers where people are making good money, have freedom to do their work unsupervised and don't feel the need to keep pushing themselves forward. In business if you aren't pushing yourself forward you will find yourself dead in the water wondering why everyone passed you by, you need to keep improving and redeveloping. This is also true for careers.
I was on the panel for a career fair a few weeks ago and was talking with an individual that had been driving truck for many years. He had some incidents on his license from the past and had worked for companies that didn't see those issues as a threat. Recently he was fired for what seemed like no reason at all, but when listening to his story I believe the company he worked for started to see a pattern and decided to no longer take the risk. He is now having trouble getting a job doing what he has done for his whole life. As I spoke with him at length we determined that he may be better to start looking at other positions in the industry that don't require driving capabilities therefore taking the focus off of his record. He was extremely happy with this new direction and went bouncing out of the event.
If he had started to look at another path even when he was driving he may have been able to move in that direction without losing income or reputation. When you're eighteen or twenty it is hard to see the future past the age of forty, anything after that seems like old age. As you move along in life you need to keep evaluating your future and that may be due to employment, health related matters, or retirement goals. Always be evaluating your current position, is it fulfilling, is it stable, if something happened to the industry or company tomorrow do you have other talents you can do? Asking these types of questions periodically will help keep you open towards learning new skills, keeping your eyes open to other opportunities, or improving your own intelligence. Don't do what I see too many people do, just bobbing along in life hoping it will turn out alight in the end. The end may be closer than you think!
About the Author
Bruce Outridge is a business and leadership consultant and author of the books "Running By The Mile" and "How to Start an Artistic Business in 12 Easy Steps." For more information please visit his website at www.outridge.ca
Once you start as an owner operator it can be very difficult to keep expanding your business. To create an efficient network think of the things you need such as a good accountant, a good mechanic, a bookkeeper and so on. These may be your preferred vendors but your goal is to build a stable network that will give you the best service possible to help your business grow.
Bruce
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