- SEEM-Safe Efficient Ethical Moral
- LUCK – Labouring Under Correct Knowledge
- Truck Driving Safety
- Bending The Rule
- Practical wisdom and Prudent driving
- Balancing Confidence and Caution
A good truck driver attitude is a direct reflection of applied practical wisdom.
I also realized that practical wisdom and prudent driving was the key to having the right attitude. Aristotle claimed it was the key to happiness in life. Rational and ethical thinking gives emotional control and patience. I was happier and my attitude reflected it.
It was similar to achieving “Inner Peace” that some of you are familiar with from other historical teachings. The emotions you show to others through trying situations are how they perceive your attitude to be.
I sat through countless safety courses with trucking companies that all talked about having a good attitude, but they never seem to break down any philosophy or concept on how to achieve one.
When I looked back on it, a lot of them shared the same selfish goal. They didn’t care about the happiness or well-being of the driver. Their only concerns were financial ones, because they knew a poor attitude cost them money in fuel, maintenance costs and equipment damage. It was all about serving the best interests of the company.
What makes things worse is the disconnect between safety departments, dispatchers, and management. It’s a well-known fact that most trucking companies have a safety department preaching rules, regulations, safety and attitude, while certain management and dispatchers are saying, “I don’t care, just get it done.”
It must be confusing for new people in trucking when they realize that there are rewards for following the rules from the safety departments, and rewards for not following the rules from the dispatchers.
The dispatching rewards are, “If you push with this load for me, I’ll reward you with this good one.” They’ll give you more loads and better loads for stretching your log book or even running illegally. In other words, reward you for acting in their best interests and not following the rules.
On the other hand you’re rewarded with a “Safety Bonus” if you do the right thing. (serve the company’s best interest.) The problem is people are doing the right thing out of need or selfishness for the money. They’re not always doing the right thing for the “Right” reasons. If you don’t believe me, ask 100 truck drivers what makes them drive prudently and see how many of them reply with,
“Because I want to make sure everyone’s safe out there.”
as opposed to,
“I get bonuses for safe driving and I need the money.”
The answer you get will clearly determine whether someone is doing things for the right reasons or not.
All this makes finding a good “Moral” company to work for difficult in today’s society. Especially when there are penalties for being an ethical and moral person.
Dispatchers frequently force drivers to bend the rules for the wrong reasons. When the driver refuses, it’s usually held against them. Dispatchers rarely respect the decisions made by drivers of a moral nature, but this is due to lack of training. This isn’t just a problem within the trucking industry, it’s society in general.
When and if something bad happens, nobody is going to watch your back.
The extremely long hours of Ice road trucking can take its toll on many drivers as they can fall asleep at the wheel.
