I Know It All Already!

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