It is clear to me now that it’s the end of my generation in the trucking industry as we know it, leaving it to the newbies. For the last while, but especially in the last few weeks, it has been all about endings and goodbyes – from old timers retiring, to people just moving on, to owners selling their stock and not looking back. With that is the influx of new drivers who are scarcely filling the gaps, definitely not fitting the moulds.
Where do we go from here? It’s something that has been on many of our seasoned minds and topics of discussions. It is either adapt and learn how to work with the newer driver, or get out of the industry entirely and maybe start a modeling career or something. I’m not very photogenic tho, so I’ve chosen to adapt. So far, it’s been an interesting and challenging process.
In 2021, I chose to come off the highway to do regional work and continue doing driver training temporarily as well. I was tired of all the bullshit, the amount of unskilled and untrained drivers out there is scary, and with very little trucking etiquette as well. Honestly, I felt ‘heartbroken’ and discouraged at one point, all I could see was the overwhelming ‘bad’ and rarely any ‘good’. It took me a little while to understand that I needed to stop focusing on the negative, I can’t bitch and complain about something and then just sit on my arse doing nothing to help better the situation.
Recently I was offered the position of driver trainer full time, and I accepted. I really do enjoy teaching others and instilling the ways of the old ones, working to bring back the pride and respect within the industry. I’m a firm believer of education, safety and training. One of the recent trainees was complaining about ‘having to do so much training, it’s unnecessary, it’s just driving, no big deal’. I said to him ‘imagine someone is becoming a doctor, they get the very basic training on the body and some functions of it. Then suddenly that doctor needs to do a surgery on an organ, how will the doctor know what to do if he hasn’t had the training?! Trucking is a very dangerous job, you need to know what the hell you are doing to get home safely, and for the safety of others around you!!’ Another guy came for a road test and had barely passed but was offered a job with full training cuz he has potential. He turned it down, he didn’t want to do any training cuz he is already an amazing driver (his actual words). The road test disagrees.
This is what I/we are working with now, clearly a whole other generation coming in with their own set of rules, and work ethics. And I have to remember – don’t try to save the world, just focus on one driver at a time, that will bring a world of a difference.
This is my last blog on this site, and I would like to say goodbye, a closing of a great story. And I will also say hello to whatever the Universe sees fit for me on my journey.
Thank you for all your support, Jen.
Whatever you do keep on smiling my friend 💛stay safe out there 😘
It’s been a truly pleasure to share the road with ya 🙏
Thank you!! Well it turns out this won’t be my last blog, the Universe disagreed with me lol I will continue with it and I started a fbook page to go along with it. Check it out, it’s the same name!
Why are you ending this blog?
For a few reasons actually, I feel it’s time to let go of the stories that came from this blog and to move onto something different with this new change in my career (becoming a driver trainer); I would like to put the money I spend on this website towards something else; in this new age people are using different platforms on social media to reach the public (I still have my IG account and YouTube channel with this same name, just thinking on how I could use that effectively); and occasionally I have little ‘cling ons’ that attach to my website as admins and contributors some how, I think it’s a scam thing but not 100% sure.