What makes a great day for
>the rest of you, or how did you get used to life on the
>road?
Getting used to life on the road is an ongoing process. The first 30 days are not days we wish to repeat. While the work is doable, everything you need to know to complete a load comes all at once with your very first load. There is no learning curve. Instead, there is a wall that goes straight up that you must climb.
Beyond the loads, using a truck stop fuel island and showers for the first time, seeing "no trucks" signs that apply to you, discovering that you cannot use a fast-food drive-through window in a truck, and all the other firsts make the first few weeks on the road very interesting, to say the least. And of course living and working together in a truck for the first time was challenging too. We learned things about each other and ourselves that we never would have imagined before we went on the road.
Thank goodness those days are behind us!
Regarding loads, we told ourselves that if we could successfully complete one load, we could complete 10, And if we could complete 10, we could complete 100. After five runs, we stopped worrying about our load-completion ability. We had that part of the work down.
It took us about a month to adjust to the irregular sleep of the expediting life. Two or three times in our first 30 days, we went out of service to sleep. There were running us hard and that was the safe thing to do.
Having been in all 48 states and three Canadian provinces, the thrill of entering a state we've never been in before is behind us. So too is the stress and uncertainty of entering a new city or area. In many places, we've developed our favorite haunts. When in a new place, we easily adjust because we have it figured out about finding whatever truck services, parking, shopping, libraries, tourist attractions, and "good" neighborhoods we may need wherever we go.
Things that help make life on the road a joy for us include:
1. A network of fellow expediters that we stay in touch with by phone. It's great to call others, talk shop, compare notes, and exchange layover tips.
2. In-truck internet access that helps us quickly learn about the city or area we are in.
3. Computer mapping software that also helps us quickly learn aobut the city or area we are in.
4. Spending money in our pocket, made possible by the business plan we have and the for-profit business we run. Profits make it possible to enjoy fine dining, the theater, and tourist attractions, and to also have good health insurance and prepare for a financially-secure retirement.
5. Financial reserves in the bank. Those reduce the worry about a truck breakdown or health issue. While we still worry about such things, we are also secure in the knowledge that we are prepared for the worst if the worst comes our way.
What makes a great day? I wrote a story about a great day we recently had. It's about 12 pages long. If you care to read it, see "Redwoods and Rhododendrons" at:
http://successfulexpediters.com/Madsen/MadsenStory008c.htm
