1. STRESS IS PART OF THE JOB
Stress is an inevitable part of a career in trucking.

There’s stress when you’re in traffic, there’s stress when you’re looking for someplace downtown and you can’t find it and you’re lost, there’s stress trying to back into a tiny little spot, where there really isn’t any room for a tractor trailer.

The customer doesn’t care…..he just wants you to be at the dock.

There’s the stress of being away from home and worrying about your family when you’re gone. There is plenty of stress in driving professionally for a living.

One of the first things you need to do is learn how to handle that stress and take it in stride.

2. EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IS KEY
The second thing you need to learn to do is how to communicate and manage the people that you’re dealing with.

Contrary to popular belief, over the road trucking is not just freedom of the road and you’re all by yourself.

There are people to deal with along the way at various levels.

- You’ve got to deal with your dispatcher.

- You’ve got to learn how to handle and manage him, in order to communicate to him, what your needs are so that you can successfully deliver his load in a timely fashion. That way, the trucking company makes money…it’s their number one concern.

- You’ve got to learn to communicate and manage your relationship with the customers so they’re not leaving you out in the back 40 waiting to unload.

- You’ve got to use that time efficiently. A lot of times you’re not getting paid for waiting or you’re getting paid very little for the wait time, so you want to be in and out of that dock as quickly as possible rather than being put on ignore by the shipper or receiver.

- You’ve got to learn to communicate effectively with the repair shop workers. Shop time is generally unpaid downtime, so you want to get in and out of the shop as quickly as possible and learn to manage that downtime successfully, in order to minimize it.

3. CHANGES ARE SOMETIMES NECESSARY

The object of the game is to put money in your pocket, so you’ve got to be working with a carrier that is not only making themselves money, but is allowing you to make money as well.

It’s got to be a mutual relationship, and too often, especially these days, the carrier is making money, but the driver not so much. You’ve got to be compensated for all your time on the road, all your time away. After all, it’s work time too.

For more information on truck driving jobs and beginning your CDL training, contact Bancroft & Sons today!