Transportation Success is About Self Management!

I recently attended a seminar called Driving for Profit put on by the folks at NAL Insurance. This seminar series is put on a couple of times a year and features information on the industry, successful company executives and other important information. The series is always informative, very educational, and well attended. This latest series had reports from executives with the Truckload Carriers Association reporting on the future of the industry and what changes have been accomplished to date.

One common thread I noticed is that many of the items that are being talked about in the industry have been talked about for a long time and that was also brought up by a couple of the speakers. Of course no conversation or presentation would be complete without a discussion on the hours of service changes. It was mentioned in the presentations that drivers in the U.S. were having trouble with running out of hours. As I was sitting at a table with a few former truck drivers I looked over and asked what had changed from the early days when we used to drive? The answer was nothing, oh sure some regulations have changed but at the end of the day it is about self management of your day. The conversation went on to say that many drivers are running right to the end of their day without thinking about the future, and this is why they are running out of hours. Too many are relying on the reset program. It was pointed out that some of the issues had been in the works for years and still solutions haven’t been found. 

Being successful about trucking is much about self management. You have to manage your daily hours to be productive, you have to manage yourself in the areas of driving techniques for fuel economy and safety, and you have to manage your health. Much of it is about self management and knowing other factors can impact your schedule, makes self management even more important. Call it time management, self management, or reality, how you operate is up to you!

About the Author

Bruce Outridge is a transportation consultant with over 30 years of experience and author of the books Driven to Drive and Running by the Mile. For more information please visit his website at www.outridgeenterprises.ca. If you would like more information on being healthy in the transportation industry please visit www.therearviewmirror.ca and check out the Healthy Trucker Series from Nal Insurance.