It's a hard thing to learn, but in time. You'll find malls to walk, movies to watch, and many activities to kill time.
Undisputed King of Short Runs
Sitting
- Thread starter MNMS
- Start date
It's a hard thing to learn, but in time. You'll find malls to walk, movies to watch, and many activities to kill time.
Undisputed King of Short Runs
If you like the job, try and stick it out. Do you own the van or drive for a fleet owner? Xiggy mentioned creature comforts. Often fleet owner's vans are bare bones when it comes to creature comforts. Having heat, insulation, extra lighting etc. makes sitting more tolerable.
If you own your own van you can relocate on your own dime to anywhere you want. If you want a paid relocate from Panther, do some research first. Pull up macro 8 to see where there are less vans than loads. If you are sitting #9 on a 3/day board call Driver Relations and ask for a PAID empty move to...
Chicago is probably one of the best places to get loaded on weekend. The more familiar one gets with their carriers operation, the better the chances of sitting less and getting more loads. Still, so much of this comes down to right place, right time. Good luck!
Sitting can be some of the most valuable and profitable time you spend in the business ... if you make it so.
In the comments above, people talk about sitting as passing the time between loads. What might change in your life if you came to view sitting as self-improvement time? What if you set a self-improvement goal that you could work on between loads? If you worked on such a goal for six months, how might your life be different six months from now?
Some of the things Diane and I did between loads included:
*Join a gym to improve our health and fitness.
* Write
*Use se the internet to study things like truck tire wear patterns, truck electrical systems, computer skills, engine oil types, personal money management, spreadsheet skills, HAZMAT regulations, digital photography, anything else that interests you; and especially anything that enhances your business skills.
*Complete a study course.
* Be an interested tourist, making the effort to learn the history and features of whatever location you happen to be in at the moment.
If you intend to be the same person six months from now that you are today, finding ways to pass the time while you sit and fend off the boredom can be an agonizing chore. If you intend to be a better expediter and/or better person six months from now than you are today, sitting can be a welcome opportunity. The key is to have a goal of some sort in front of you that guides how you spend your sitting time.
A fitness goal might be to reduce your resting heart rate by five beats per minute
A personal money management goal might be to read a Dave Ramsey book
A computer skills goal might be to learn how to develop a spreadsheet to track and analyze your fuel purchases
A business skills development goal might be to complete one of the self-study courses your carrier offers (if offered).
In the comments above, people talk about sitting as passing the time between loads. What might change in your life if you came to view sitting as self-improvement time? What if you set a self-improvement goal that you could work on between loads? If you worked on such a goal for six months, how might your life be different six months from now?
Some of the things Diane and I did between loads included:
*Join a gym to improve our health and fitness.
* Write
*Use se the internet to study things like truck tire wear patterns, truck electrical systems, computer skills, engine oil types, personal money management, spreadsheet skills, HAZMAT regulations, digital photography, anything else that interests you; and especially anything that enhances your business skills.
*Complete a study course.
* Be an interested tourist, making the effort to learn the history and features of whatever location you happen to be in at the moment.
If you intend to be the same person six months from now that you are today, finding ways to pass the time while you sit and fend off the boredom can be an agonizing chore. If you intend to be a better expediter and/or better person six months from now than you are today, sitting can be a welcome opportunity. The key is to have a goal of some sort in front of you that guides how you spend your sitting time.
A fitness goal might be to reduce your resting heart rate by five beats per minute
A personal money management goal might be to read a Dave Ramsey book
A computer skills goal might be to learn how to develop a spreadsheet to track and analyze your fuel purchases
A business skills development goal might be to complete one of the self-study courses your carrier offers (if offered).
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Your welcome, MNMS. One additional study thought:
Set a goal to carefully read the first post in each of 100 EO Open Fourm threads. Write down every word and concept you encounter that is unfamiliar to you. Then research each unknown word or concept until is is known. Doing that will expand your industry knowledge and expediting vocabulary. Numbering the items and crossing them off as they become known provides a sense of accomplishment with each one.
jaxonviking
Expert Expediter
If you're in a van, libraries can be a godsend. Clean toilets (at least 1st thing in the morning), climate-controlled, some of the upscale ones have coffee bars. The one in Troy, MI has a snack bar with microwavable food in vending machines. Google maps is good at finding them -- use "Public Library" and you won't get so many college and law libraries in your search results.
About 80% of public libraries have decent wireless internet. The rest either have poor service or it's locked and they won't let you on without a card. Of course, a wide selection of books to browse while you're there. If the local thievery level is low, they might not bother to lock down their CDs/Audiobooks/DVDs, so you can rip them on a laptop while you're there. Good project for a Saturday when you're less likely to be interrupted in the middle of things with a load.
About 80% of public libraries have decent wireless internet. The rest either have poor service or it's locked and they won't let you on without a card. Of course, a wide selection of books to browse while you're there. If the local thievery level is low, they might not bother to lock down their CDs/Audiobooks/DVDs, so you can rip them on a laptop while you're there. Good project for a Saturday when you're less likely to be interrupted in the middle of things with a load.