The First Year Down....

Wow! It has been a while my friends. It seems like yesterday that I had started asking questions. I have learned so much over the past year and yet I still feel like a complete rookie most days. I was talking to Pat on the phone today and he said he had referred someone with questions about Roehl to me. I realized I had not been on in a long time and needed to jump in and say HI.

Just a little story for you guys. This morning, I arrived at the consignee. All the guys in the warehouse were just grumpy and rude. I got the truck in the dock and the guy started to unload me very slowly. There was a young guy sweeping the floors and picking up trash. He had a big pile in the floor and grabbed a shovel and started scooping it up. I walked over and took the broom leaning there and held the pile while he shoves it. After the pile was up, he grinned real big and said, "Hey, thanks." I said, "No problem." Then the forklift drivers stops and says, "Hey man, where are you from?" I said, "NC." We talked about stuff for a second and then it was like someone put turbos on the forklift and my truck was empty in no time. I stood there shooting the bull with these guys that at first looked like the would beat me if I even spoke.

This was just one of the small lessons I have learned everyday out here. I did not have to say a word. I just offered a helping hand. I did not ***** about them being mean or moving slow. By holding a broom for two minutes, my truck got unloaded 30 minutes faster.

Welcome back, Wine Taster! Congrats on your first year (still working on that myself) ... what a REALLY cool story ... made me grin from ear-to-ear just thinking of how you made ALL of those guys' day by just being human ... I bet they were in a good mood the rest of their day and didn't even know why...

Jopa

Congrats my friend, very hard earned. Great story. It's amazing how varied reactions we get at the various places we all go. Be safe!!

Hey great hearing from you again Wine Taster and glad things are going well for you out there!

That story was exactly the reason we constantly tell everyone coming into this industry how important it is to treat people with kindness and respect. No one would ever believe how much of a difference that will make in a trucker's life until they get out there and see it for themselves. It's a sad state of affairs, but the reality is that an awful lot of truckers just have bad attitudes, especially when things don't go their way. You'll find a lot of dock workers and shipping supervisors that quit trying to be nice to truckers a long time ago. You'll even find a bunch that simply hate truckers period.

I've never known of a job or an industry like trucking where you can stand out from the pack by simply being kind and friendly to people. I hate to admit that's still true about truckers in general in 2015, but you'll find that people on the docks are often genuinely surprised by a trucker who's an enjoyable person to talk to.

Thanks guys. I tell you it has been a lot of adjusting to being on the road. It is really hard being away from family and friends. Every now and then I hit a day where I say this is just not for me. Then the next day, I keep on trucking. Not sure I will stay doing OTR for the long haul. I enjoy going places I have never been. Some of the things you see out here are absolutely beautiful. The hardest part is being away from home so much.

I was talking to Pat on the phone today and he said he had referred someone with questions about Roehl to me.

Wine Taster, I sent you a PM. Please let me know if you didn't get it. Thanks.

Wine Taster, glad to hear your still at it! I wonder at times about folks we have come through here and then they just sort of disappear. I know how demanding this job is and I figure that most of them got what they needed and then moved on in their careers. Every once in a while some of them like you will contact me for a little advice and I always hope to be helpful, but half the time I'm concerned I may be scaring them away from the very thing I enjoy thoroughly because it doesn't mesh with their expectations.

Missing the family and the life at home is a powerful deterrent to this career. We all understand where you're coming from on that account.

Missing the family and the life at home is a powerful deterrent to this career.

Old School,

I often think about this aspect of trucking. I'll just have to take a leap of faith and see how things work out after a few years, then make a rudder steer if needed.