I think the title should be listen, ask and ask again ... then try
In another thread I made the point that I make $3.50 a mile and unnamed EO member pretty much said I was full of it but when I challenged him to prove I couldn't make it, he would not even consider it because he knows I am right. A few did get the point of why I was saying it - thanks.
There is a reason why I stated that number, which is not boasting but sharing is simply I believe anyone and everyone can do better if they try.
I did this exact thing; take a number, making it a goal and then learn how to achieve that goal by listening, asking and asking again, and trying. Anyone can reach their goals - this is partially what I meant by thinking outside the box.
I didn't have a fun time when I started, I had to deal with the threat of my old employer being held over my head and I had to learn quickly what would work to pay the bills.
I do have a lot of experience with different things and tried to apply that to this business and was failing to get it right for me. I found out that this business isn't a business but a niche market with its own set of rules - one of them is people can move up easily. The one thing that was clear quickly is that no one person has all the answers because no one person is the same as the other.
I saw and still see complacency, where people assume that being a company driver is the only way to make money or it is all about the miles and a bunch of other things all too common. I am glad to see one company other than my own braking the mold and making people realize there is more to it than just miles and money.
Well I digress ...
I choose a course of action that made a world of difference to me, I went into learning not to make money but to learn how it all fits together and that is not an easy thing. Learning how it fits together lets me know which path I need to follow in order to make the money.
What the biggest thing I did that is different from almost everyone else is I went to work doing different things without pay - yep not a single dime. I dispatched for a bit at two different companies who advertise here, I worked on a dock at one of the major carriers, worked in a traffic office of a couple customers and sat in on budget meetings to learn how they look at freight. I did the truck repair thing for a few weeks, read and talked to as many of the "movers and shakers" I could and so on. Learning as much as I can so I can improve things for myself.
I did make money on the way by applying those little lessons but I reached my goal eventually and now I know what I can and can not do.
Money wasn't the motivator and I keep telling people if they focus on the money, they will miss opportunities that bring them more money. I think Phil and others opened their eyes to this after me telling them for the past few years the same thing.
Right now what I'm working towards is stability, so I can claim the $3.50 a mile and work every day IF I want and be home almost every night - what else can anyone ask for?
I try to share, I'm not doing as much as I want to or should because every time I post something, I either get push back or some idiotic comment which is tiring.
