Fuel for Thought

Earthworms

Earthworms are interesting. Most of their life is spent, as their name implies, in the moist earth. These burrowing creatures live, breed and thrive below the surface in moist soils. Then the rain comes, and these little buggers come to the surface and can be seen everywhere. In parking lots, on sidewalks, in grassy areas, you name it, the rain instinctually calls the earthworms from their subterranean world. Earthworms need moisture to survive, this is why they live and travel in moist soils, but the rain provides them with an alternate means of travel (on the wet surface) which can also help them to move great distances faster as opposed to burrowing. However, their instincts that drive them to the surface also brings dangers. Now that they have emerged they are susceptible to the birds who prey on them as well as the sun drying them out.

Sometimes instincts will protect you, other times instincts can be they very thing that leads to trouble.

Just like the earthworms, drivers can follow their instincts and sometimes be their own worst enemy.

Instincts might tell you to get there early, but not all shippers or receivers can or will appreciate your efforts. Arriving early can just have you waiting longer or even cost you in more ways than one. More customers these days have appointment times and if you arrive early or late, you can be subject to revenue reductions. Arriving early can also cost you in extra fuel that if you had just slowed down, since you had plenty of time, would have given you a better MPG for the trip. Why race to your destination just to sit?

As a driver and an owner operator, we instinctively tend to think that the faster we drive and the earlier we get there the better. This may be true in many cases where getting loaded early gives us a jumpstart on the trip ahead or unloading early can lead to more loads after, but consider the end result before following your instincts to “hurry up and wait” or hurry and actually earn less. Follow the market conditions and the customer guidelines and rely less on the natural inclination to run hard for no gain or even a loss.

 

See you down the road,

Greg