It's a Team's Life

Computers Rule

I have an aversion to pennies and I lose this battle every day.   I am constantly trying to get rid of my pennies to get silver change.   I was recently in a Subway and my bill was $3.18 and I thought great I get to get rid of three pennies!   I gave the girl a five dollar bill and my three pennies, and she put the amount the cash register wrong.   The first thing she did was call over the manager as she did not know what to do next.   The cash register was not telling her how much change to give me.   The manager stood   there and watched the girl try to figure out how much change to give me as she also had no clue.   The young girl handed me a dime and a dollar bill.   I thought wow I like the idea of getting rid of my three pennies but I want my three quarters in exchange!   I told the girl she owned me three quarters and she immediately them over to me.   I could have asked her for six quarters and she would not have questioned me she was so flustered.   The procedure; simple math, but was and her manager have been reduced to following the cash register's directions.

I have also seen this with our GPS and what “Lori” does to us.   We often question our own judgment as we know the GPS is much more intelligent than we are.  Right?   While we do not follow the GPS explicitly we still are guilty of picking the GPS over our own thoughts.    We still read low clearance signs and also no truck signs as we do not have a GPS that recognizes our special needs.   I wonder though, when we get a new truck friendly GPS, will we quit watching the signs so closely?   When we get a load we are sent directions to pickup and from pickup to delivery.   We check out the route and I almost always check the route to pickup and delivery on my Streets and Trips.   Many of our loads do not have local directions included on the dispatch anymore as FedEx Custom Critical has found the GPS is usually more accurate than the shipping clerk who drives a small car to work each day.   We always have our GPS on when the truck is moving as we feel lost without it even going to a place we have been before.   I watch what my speed is on Lori as she is a little more accurate than my dash readout.   We have had Lori for almost 5 years and she has recorded 619215 miles driving with us.   I think all new drivers to the trucking world should have a GPS as it helps keep our eyes on the road and not trying to constantly read street signs or business addresses that are hard to find.   I also think we all need to learn to read a map and rely on ourselves to think a problem through and use the GPS as an aid.

On a side note our GPS is very outdated and we have not been able to update her for the past three years.  We have grown attached to Lori and have a lot of field notes embedded in her memory  and we are reluctant to lose those.  One of these days we are going to bite the bullet and upgrade to a truck friendly GPS and maybe we will not need so many field notes.

How much longer till we follow a man made computer from waking till we go to sleep at night with no thoughts of our own?

Bob & Linda Caffee
Leased to: FedEx Custom Critical
TeamCaffee
Saint Louis MO
Expediters 5 years been out here on the road ten years
[email protected]

 

Expediting isn't just trucking, it's a lifestyle;
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