It's a Team's Life
Networking
From Wiki: Business networking is a socioeconomic activity by which groups of like-minded businesspeople recognize, create, or act upon business opportunities
Networking does not fit into a spreadsheet, nor are the results usually immediate. Another example is workshops, truck shows, and other business related activities that take us out of service. The old saying when the wheels are not turning we are not making money, while this is usually true there are cases where this is totally wrong.
Looking back over the years at the events we have attended and how much each event costs us can be an eye opener, in order for us to be down five days we lose several thousand dollars. This loss of income is immediate and cuts into what we need to maintain our bills for that month. The question then is "How do we justify attending shows or conventions?"
I can only think of one show that had a direct impact on our income and was quickly justified, and that was our very first Expedite Expo in 2004. We flew into this show and spent two days talking to recruiters, vendors, truck salespeople, and drivers for all companies, makes and brands. After talking to all of these people we made the decision on the company we would lease on to and where we would buy our first truck.
After getting
into expediting we attend truck shows for other reasons and throughout the
years the reasons have changed.
We first
attended shows to stay abreast of the changes in products and also rules and
regulations that affect our daily lives.
We were building our business and we were still learning what worked
best on the truck.
In this period of our
O/O days we needed knowledge and we needed to talk to other drivers to gain
perspective.
As we gained experience and got to know many of the vendors we attended the truck shows to stay in touch with friends and to learn more from an insider’s view of what is coming down the pike. Now we are often asked for feedback by the vendors about products we have on our truck. One of the benefits of having a large group of friends who attend truck shows is that in the evenings as we sit around talking we discuss what we saw at the truck show and maybe a vendor we should see.
Now we attend truck shows with a group of drivers that sponsor Driver Health Awareness Walks and also Blood Drives. These two events are held at the major truck shows and have been well received by drivers and by show management. This exposure had created and even higher level of exposure and increased our network of contacts.
The gains we now receive from our attendance at the truck show are contacts. These contacts do not show up on our budget immediately but they have a direct impact on our spreadsheet. We have changed how we do business due to drivers we have met. We like many others were afraid of the word "explosives" and had not considered getting our clearances. After talking to drivers we realized we were missing out and we took immediate steps to rectify this situation.
We have met many vendors over the years and when we need something or we need information we have a phone number. These people have saved us a lot of money due to information they share. One direct impact is the preventive maintenance we have done due to information we learned that has kept us from sitting beside the road.
The networking we gain from the shows to us is priceless and while it does not fit into my budget it does benefit my budget on down the road.
Bob & Linda Caffee
Leased to: FedEx Custom Critical 

TeamCaffee

Saint Louis MO
Expediters 7 years been out here on the road 12 years
Expediting isn't just trucking, it's a lifestyle; 

Expediting isn't just a lifestyle, it's an adventure;

Expediting isn't just an adventure, it's a job;

Expediting isn't just a job, it's a business.