You Never Know Who You're Going To Meet

One of the things I harp on with my students is image. You never know who you're going to meet. Especially when you're at a terminal.

Yesterday my student had to update her CDL with safety and since we were there in Phoenix we went in to safety and took care of it in person.

While waiting for the office to open a man asked us if we needed help, so I explained what we were doing. He told us he would see if someone was there yet and away he went.

Twenty minutes later he came back down to check on us. Come to find out it was the COO of Swift.

Just something to keep in mind before getting out of your truck in flip flops and dirty clothes.

When I was working at Walmart DC a man approached me and asked how I liked it. Without thinking I just blurted out "this ***King job sucks". I was a couple of weeks in and frustrated with the struggle of trying to keep up with my peers. My partner was standing next to me and he turned white as a ghost. When the man walked away he said to me "that's the GM of the building". Oops, bad first impression. I learned from it and made it a point to keep things like that to myself.

That's a good example of a reason to keep yourself presentable, Big T. You never know...

An instructor of mine at cdl school who had retired from ABF told us a story. Early in his career he pulled over for a car on the side of the road to offer assistance. It turned out to be the ops manager's wife from the terminal he worked out of.

A person never really knows their audience and more importantly you never get a second chance to make a good first impression!!!

I never understood those drivers who are at customers or especially a terminal dressed that way. Given the nature of the job I understand that sometimes you interrupt your 10 hr break to go inside and check in or get your paperwork and possibly got awaken so your hair may be a mess, but theres absolutely no excuse at the terminal. Even with my home daily job I've seen a couple of our drivers come in wearing flip flops and pajama pants. I remember posting a pic of a guy I seen at a shipper wearing kitty pajamas and slippers while opening his doors. From my days working the loading docks I can assure you somebody who comes in dressed acceptable got much better treatment and their business taken care of much quicker than a slob. This was even more true for those who clearly hadn't showered or tried to clean themselves in several days. If the shipping office needs to spray air freshener after you leave there is a problem.

Thank you for helping your students understand that appearance matters. Despite the traveling, everyone needs to remember this is a job and we need to dress appropriately. For those considering a career you're not expected to wear a suit or button up shirt by any means, just wearing a clean shirt (THAT FITS!) and jeans with tennis shoes will put you far ahead of many others

When I was going through training with CRST, on almost a daily basis , they sent students back to the hotel for not having on appropriate clothing. They tell you the first day, flip flops, sandals, slip on's etc are not allowed. They also make it clear revealing clothes short shorts are not allowed Shirts that are sexualized, racist or can be construed as offensive were not allowed. The instructors explained that once they started driving going to shippers and consignees they representatives of CRST. It comes down to respect for the company, your fellow drivers and yourself

10 years ago wife said words that still ring in my head today. Had just woke up and going to get coffee in Pajama pants. I said I don't care what people think. She said

It's not about caring what people think. It's about giving a damn about yourself.

Being a selfish prick I still was like I give a damn about me. Still rings true.

When I was in orientation at CFI the then President of the company came down to speak to us. He shared a story of what had just happened. One of his closest friends was so happy when he showed up at work and there was a CFI truck in his dock. The guy was so excited, he wanted to get a picture of the truck under the sign with the name of his company. He was honking and waiving to the driver. The driver opened his window and flipped the bird just as the guy took the pic. He texted that pic to his good friend, the President of CFI.

It is so important to keep a professional attitude and appearance.

I'm guilty of wearing pajama pants into the drivers lounge to use the restroom a few times. Sometimes you just don't have time to change into pants. And I'm not one to go in the parking lot.

At least mine don't have kitties on them. Mine have huskies. Lol

Okay now if you are at a truck stop or rest area, doing a 10 hour break or 34 hour reset and it's after 7pm then by all means go ahead and dress down, throw on your pj's or shorts wear your flip flops. Another exception to the rule is you roll up to a terminal and you are completely out of clothes but your sleep gear or shorts etc.