Reviewing Advice Four Years Later
by
Phil Madsen, Expediter
(Written March 10, 2007. Edited March 11, 2007 for publication on SuccessfulExpediters.com.)
In January, 2003, as a trucker wannabee with my wife, I posted an item, "Advice Please." Four years later and now with 3.5 years of truck driving under our belts, I had occasion to re-read that post and the responses I received. It is an emotional event that leaves me humbled.
As often happens in free-for-all internet forums, certain people quickly started pounding on each other with opposing views. Not being one to walk away from a fight, I was one of them. Character attacks soon followed. When they did, I tried my best to respond not in kind, but to focus on the question being debated and not the man. Though, some of my issue-centered arguments did not leave the man on the other side feeling intellectually intact.
In the food fight that followed with some people here, I forgot about the good people who responded with good intentions. I also have come to learn that many truck drivers who give advice and proudly point to their experience to validate their advice are not accustomed to having their advice questioned. As someone who majored in philosophy in college, I am accustomed to questioning everything. With that mix of people, ruffled feathers on both sides were sure to occur.
To the chagrin of some, and with best wishes from others, my wife and I quit our so-called good jobs and went into trucking; specifically, expedited freight transport. We are very happy in the life and work and are accomplishing all the goals we set when we jumped in.
Reviewing the first advice I received, I see the very good industry information and the good intentions of the people who shared it. As things turned out, some of them did not know as much about trucking as they suggested they knew. Specifically, they did not know anything about expediting, which is the perfect trucking sector for us. Nevertheless, they took what they did know about trucking and tried to steer us in the right direction, as they believed right to be.
On the road and online, I am now asked for information and advice by truckers and trucker wannabees almost every day. I have come to regard such inquiries as sacred events. It is an important moment when someone considering a new carrier or new career asks you about it. When sharing what one knows, it is important to realize that you don't know everything about trucking and you don't know anything about the skills and potential the stranger in front of you has (or lacks).
Some people are defeated by the challenges trucking presents. Others thrive on the very same. Still others struggle for an extended period of time and may end up going on to either succeed or fail. Respect for the stranger that sought you out demands that you keep an open mind about his or her potential and offer a measured response.
It seems to me that the best a truck driver can offer a stranger who is seeking advice, is to paint as factual of a picture of the industry as you possibly can, while acknowledging that you do not know it all. You do that by saying you do not know it all and by referring your guest to additional sources for additional information and varying views.
The best advice my wife and I received came from people who limited their responses to what they actually knew about trucking, and did not presume that they knew us. They did not try to tell us how trucking is. They told us only how trucking is for them. That left it to us to match our expectations with their experience and make our own best next-step decisions.
Truckers that presumed they knew how trucking is, and presumed to knew ahead of time how trucking would be for us, were the ones who saw their advice rejected and industry characterizations refuted.
Trucking is a huge industry with many sectors and ways of doing business. Respect for that fact, and for each person who approaches you for information and advice, is best for everyone concerned.
For those who may be interested, our truck photo and specs can be seen online here. See also: Introduction to Expediting