I Think We Can Do Better. Who's Up To The Challenge?

I think we can do better as a group. We can do better to uphold the ideals laid out in Trucking Truth's motto: "...To empathize, encourage, and inspire"

Our goal is to educate new drivers...to help new drivers overcome challenges, to answer their questions, and to offer sound advice.

It is not always easy to handle every poster's problems the way we are supposed to. Sometimes they phrase questions in ways that annoy us. However, we are experienced drivers, here to offer help. We must try to empathize with whoever asks for advice no matter how they ask for that advice. Remember that they are new. They are most likely stressed out, frustrated, and overwhelmed. Giving dismissive, sarcastic, or combative responses is not helpful. We are professionals. We need to be better than that and focus on helping individuals despite what we think of their questions. As professionals, it is up to us to rise to the challenge...to steer the conversation towards finding a solution to a problem and educating the person who asks for our help. Responding in an unnecessarily negative manner is the opposite of that. A negative response immediately steers the thread towards more negativity and bickering rather than towards solutions and progress.

Here's a generic example of a topic that might be annoying for some people.

My Fleet Manager is ignoring me. How can I do my job if no one will answer my questions?

Here's a knee jerk answer one might be tempted to respond with:

"Your company is running a business, not a daycare. If you need someone to hold your hand, maybe you should look for another job."

True? Possibly. Helpful? Not at all.

Remember: this driver is new. They may have no clue as to how much an FM has to deal with and all the drivers they are responsible for.

A better way to answer the question could be:

"Fleet manager's are responsible for an entire fleet of trucks. It is not uncommon for them to be handling a dozen problems all at once. Try leaving a message asking him/her to call you when they get a chance."

The OP may answer back with something like,

I'm not getting any good loads. I'm wondering if my FM is any good at their job. He/she is holding me back and making it impossible to earn any money. It's like he/wants me to fail.

You may want to respond:

"Sure. You've been doing this job for 2 weeks so you obviously know more than your FM." Or you might want to respond with the tired, old "entitled millennials..." rant

This is a good example of unnecessary sarcasm and presumed judgment of character.

It might feel gratifying to put a newbie in their place, but it doesn't solve the problem or help the new person gain a better understanding of the job and how things work.

If an OP makes a comment about all the negative things they've heard concerning this or that company, don't go back at them half-cocked. Explain that there is a lot of misinformation out there that should be ignored. Let them know they've come to the right place to learn the truth.

If you can't contribute in a positive way then just ignore the question. This is not a site for you to vent your frustration by sounding off on a new driver needing help. It's a site meant to educate and help new drivers. Try to remember that the next time a person says something that you find annoying. Take a step back and remember what we're here for. That's the challenge!

Obviously if we are dealing with a troll or someone who is not responding to the carrot, by all means, give them the stick...but only after you've tried to do things the nice way. 😉

I love it! I agree completely!

As an Italian from Upstate New York, we are far from what you would call a quiet, compassionate, sensitive bunch. Quite the opposite, in fact. Over the years, I've made a serious effort to be more friendly, and yet still give people the truth they need to hear. I've gotten much better at it.

I must admit there is still a harshness in some responses I see in here that even makes me cringe, and it takes a lot to make me cringe!

I've always liked the saying, "Walk softly but carry a big stick." If someone needs the stick, we'll give it to them. But 99% of the time we just need to roll out the red carpet and do what we do best - help people get a great start to their trucking career!

I failed the challenge.

Real Diehl,

What a great way to express the true goal of TT. Most responses here on TT have been professional, helpful and based on experience. Often some replies are very critical and degrading to the ops that are seeking advice. Also we should stick to the basis of TT and that is to offer help and advice to those needing guidance in the trucking industry and not offer personal opinions on items like politics which can cause quite a stir among members.

RealDiehl, I see your point, but on the other hand I personally appreciate the free spirit of this group - not a day care or some other institution bound by dozens if not hundreds laws and rules, but a community of very different people. Some are polite and soft, some are just the opposite, and some only read and keep silence, so we don't know much about them :-) And all together this is exactly what we call real life.

I think we can do better as a group. We can do better to uphold the ideals laid out in Trucking Truth's motto: "...To empathize, encourage, and inspire"

Our goal is to educate new drivers...to help new drivers overcome challenges, to answer their questions, and to offer sound advice.

It is not always easy to handle every poster's problems the way we are supposed to. Sometimes they phrase questions in ways that annoy us. However, we are experienced drivers, here to offer help. We must try to empathize with whoever asks for advice no matter how they ask for that advice. Remember that they are new. They are most likely stressed out, frustrated, and overwhelmed. Giving dismissive, sarcastic, or combative responses is not helpful. We are professionals. We need to be better than that and focus on helping individuals despite what we think of their questions. As professionals, it is up to us to rise to the challenge...to steer the conversation towards finding a solution to a problem and educating the person who asks for our help. Responding in an unnecessarily negative manner is the opposite of that. A negative response immediately steers the thread towards more negativity and bickering rather than towards solutions and progress.

Here's a generic example of a topic that might be annoying for some people.

My Fleet Manager is ignoring me. How can I do my job if no one will answer my questions?

Here's a knee jerk answer one might be tempted to respond with:

"Your company is running a business, not a daycare. If you need someone to hold your hand, maybe you should look for another job."

True? Possibly. Helpful? Not at all.

Remember: this driver is new. They may have no clue as to how much an FM has to deal with and all the drivers they are responsible for.

A better way to answer the question could be:

"Fleet manager's are responsible for an entire fleet of trucks. It is not uncommon for them to be handling a dozen problems all at once. Try leaving a message asking him/her to call you when they get a chance."

The OP may answer back with something like,

I'm not getting any good loads. I'm wondering if my FM is any good at their job. He/she is holding me back and making it impossible to earn any money. It's like he/wants me to fail.

You may want to respond:

"Sure. You've been doing this job for 2 weeks so you obviously know more than your FM." Or you might want to respond with the tired, old "entitled millennials..." rant

This is a good example of unnecessary sarcasm and presumed judgment of character.

It might feel gratifying to put a newbie in their place, but it doesn't solve the problem or help the new person gain a better understanding of the job and how things work.

If an OP makes a comment about all the negative things they've heard concerning this or that company, don't go back at them half-****ed. Explain that there is a lot of misinformation out there that should be ignored. Let them know they've come to the right place to learn the truth.

If you can't contribute in a positive way then just ignore the question. This is not a site for you to vent your frustration by sounding off on a new driver needing help. It's a site meant to educate and help new drivers. Try to remember that the next time a person says something that you find annoying. Take a step back and remember what we're here for. That's the challenge!

Obviously if we are dealing with a troll or someone who is not responding to the carrot, by all means, give them the stick...but only after you've tried to do things the nice way. 😉

👍

Agreed! Great post!

I agree 100% I wanted to say something but wasn't sure how to word it. You basically stole the words right out of my mouth.

RealDiehl, I see your point, but on the other hand I personally appreciate the free spirit of this group - not a day care or some other institution bound by dozens if not hundreds laws and rules, but a community of very different people. Some are polite and soft, some are just the opposite, and some only read and keep silence, so we don't know much about them :-) And all together this is exactly what we call real life.

Agreed, Andrey. I don't think anyone wants their freedom of speech to be curtailed. I think we (that includes you) do a great job as a community in helping people here. Sometimes threads take a turn in the wrong direction. Instead of focusing on the OP's problem we sometimes get sidetracked and argue with each other and lose site of the fact that our true purpose is helping others. Keeping our true mission in mind is all I ask.

Most responses here on TT have been professional, helpful and based on experience

Not mentioning that in the original post was an oversight on my part. I feel the same way. Just bc I think we can do better does not mean we don't already do a great job. Thanks for pointing that out.