Great Expectations

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Everybody’s looking for good truck drivers these days. Funny thing though, nobody specifically says “good truck drivers wanted” in their ads. Just, “drivers wanted.” Same applies for owner-operators. Maybe it’s because implying that they want “good” ones is a form of discrimination against so-so drivers, or downright bad ones. Or maybe it’s because, like me, they don’t know how to define the “good” truck driver.

If you asked a dispatcher, he might say that a good driver is a guy (feel free to substitute “gal” anywhere in this text-I have equal respect for both, but don’t intend to make the politically correct distinction on every such occasion) he can depend on to get the freight delivered, no matter what.

Dispatchers love drivers like that. Helps them sleep at night.

Tell the safety supervisor, what the dispatcher said and he’ll likely have a stroke. “If the driver’s willing to do whatever needs to be done to get the freight to the customer on time, maybe the driver isn’t taking safety seriously enough,” he’ll say. “Hours of service, bad weather, traffic congestion, all that and more are safety concerns. Maybe I’d better speak to that driver.”

Now ask the safety guy what he thinks a good driver is and he might say someone who does whatever he can to deliver the load on time, provided it doesn’t compromise the safe operation of the vehicle. He’s mindful of bad weather, doesn’t drive aggressively, and obeys all the rules of the road.

Next, ask a carrier sales rep what a good driver is, and while you’re at it, relay what the safety supervisor said.

When he gets up off the floor, he’ll rant and rave about promises he made to the customer. “I sold him on driver-load/driver-unload,” he might say. “What if your driver gets halfway through the trailer and decides to go to bed? I’m toast! I’m going to have to offer the customer a discount on the next load just to keep the business.”

While we’re at it, let’s ask a mechanic what makes a good truck driver. “He’s not hard on the equipment, he’s easy on the brakes, and he’s not always walking into the shop waving work orders around for silly stuff like burnt-out clearance lights and flat-spotted tires,” the guy with the wrench might be inclined to say. “What does he know about trucks anyway?”

And just for fun, let’s ask an enforcement officer. “A good driver is in compliance. He’s polite and helpful while I conduct my Level 1 inspections, and he knows all the regulations,” he might say.

To a driver’s wife, a good truck driver comes home when he says he will and never misses the kids’ birthdays. To the insurance broker, he’s a driver who’s never had an accident, even though he may have never had to avoid one, either. And to Joe Commuter, a good driver never speeds or tailgates, or better still, stays home and doesn’t clog up the highways.

The fact is, a truck driver serves many masters, and precious few really understand just what a valuable asset a good truck driver really is.

I think a good driver is one who is aware of the importance of what he does, while at the same time he understands what an awesome responsibility driving a truck on a crowded highway can be. He knows the value of customer service, but his self-esteem won’t allow him to be taken advantage of in the process. He respects authority, but draws the line at bending over backwards in the face of misguided little men with inflated egos. He knows enough about his truck to know when it needs attention, and he gets it when it’s needed. He knows that delivering the load isn’t always the most important thing in the world. And he values his family and his personal life enough to say “no” when it may be imprudent to do so. He knows trucking is a hard row to hoe, but he gives it 100% every day anyway, and he respects his fellow drivers enough not to leave the landing-gear crank sticking out from beneath the trailer in a dark drop yard.

But mostly, he knows that he can’t possibly know everything, so he puts his pride aside and asks stupid questions. And he does his best to shoulder the expectations heaped upon him at every turn, and tries not let his bemusement show when someone asks him why good drivers are so hard to find.

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Jim Park was a CDL driver and owner-operator from 1978 until 1998, when he began his second career as a trucking journalist. During that career transition, he hosted an overnight radio show on a Hamilton, Ontario radio station and later went on to anchor the trucking news in SiriusXM's Road Dog Trucking channel. Jim is a regular contributor to Today's Trucking and Trucknews.com, and produces Focus On and On the Spot test drive videos.


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