Driver's Seat View

I am sure most of us, if not all, have heard of the dangers associated with stress. It is a leading cause of headaches, nerve problems, behavioral dysfunction, ulcers, and heart problems. I once read a bumper sticker, that was "meant to be funny" (quotation marks intentional) that said stress was the "need to choke the living s--- out of some a------" In other words, the ultimate form of stress release is to act it out violently. I'm sure most of us have seen or at least heard the altercations common in a truckstop parking lot. Perhaps a new driver will take longer than necessary to back into a space and the driver waiting for him or her to do so will angrily make a comment meant to deride the driver who made him or her wait. Most of the time, this will create a hazardous situation that could end up depriving both drivers of their livlihood, if not their lives, and in which there can be no winners regardless of the outcome. At the very least, all drivers are made to appear as impatient, trouble-seeking, ill-tempered, and foul-mouthed delinquents by a couple of people under the effects of stress.

While there are some drivers out here who really should be banned from the industry, and society for that matter, due to their selfish, rude, and violence-prone behavior, the majority of drivers who react in such manner are actually the victims of unrecognized stress.

But where does this stress originate? Some of it can come from undue and unreal expectations on the part of load planners and dispatchers. Assigning a load with insufficient time for pickup or delivery can put put an enormous amount of stress on a consciencious driver who holds him or herself to a high standard of timeliness. Experienced drivers who pride themselves on "no late loads" are good time managers and trip planners. They take into account all potential or known factors of their trip before starting out and always leave themselves a "cushion" in case of unexpected delays.

When faced with the possibility of arriving late and having to deal with the consequences of doing so, they naturally look to the cause of their dilemna and the anger caused by not being able to do anything about it because someone else caused it creates the stress that can turn ugly in a scenario like the one we just examined. These are really just secondary sources of stress when compared to the stress created by a vehicle that cannot meet the needs of the task it is supposed to perform. Why would this cause stress?

Imagine driving 2000 miles at 65 mph when the speed limit is 75 mph. After averaging your speed over 11 hours daily, it will take you one-half day longer to make the same trip at 65 mph than it would at 75 mph. Even when the speed limit drops to 65 and 70 mph, you still lose an enormous amount of time over a month's time and over a year, the time you lose turns into real money out of your pocket. If you run into delays, this only serves to worsen the problem. You cannot make up any time lost with a slow vehicle and that puts you in the "hot seat."

Several reasons have been cited as the need for "governed" trucks.

1. Safety

2. Insurance

3. Leased Vehicle Requirements

4. Fuel Savings

If safety is a concern, then why post the speed limit that high or why not make governors mandatory on all cars and trucks instead of just some since speed appears to be the problem here?

If insurance requires this, then why are not all trucks governed the same, since all trucks must have insurance coverage by law?

If it is a matter of this being required by lease agreements, why not negotiate a better one since companies who "castrate" their trucks lose at least one load production per month in comparison to those who don't.

As for fuel savings, the lost production of a load per month, if recouped, would pay for "perceived" fuel savings of a whole year in just one to two months if the trucks were allowed to run the legal speed limits in all states.

After having informally interviewed a number of drivers from different companies who govern their trucks on this subject, and my main question having been, "does the speed of the truck create any stress for you that you can perceive?" I am totally convinced that it is a major stress generator. The answer has always been a resounding, "YES."

Then, why would a company go to such extremes to limit their own productivity? Why deprive the company coffers of an additional load per month? Why make the company the butt of someone else's joke and have drivers shy away from working for you or leave your company in total disgust because of the "monkey wrench" a slow truck throws into your company's logistics efforts?

The answer can only be that there is a lack of trust in the quality of drivers a company hires. Either that, or the owners and managers are listening to beancounters who have never set foot inside a truck, yet have determined that this is the way to operate one because they view the driver as just another piece of "equipment." Not taking into account the Human side of the driving aspect of this industry has had tremendous cost ramifications in low retention and high turnover costs. Those, along with lost productivity and lost clients due to poor service ratings, have brought some major companies down in the past and I'm sure we will see some more of the same in the future.

So what is the answer? Hire quality seasoned drivers primarily and trust them to do what needs to be done with your equipment safely and profitably. Give your drivers more than mere lip service respect and treat them as the professionals they are by allowing them to decide when to use the speed of the truck to accomplish their task in a timely manner. If you need to assign slower trucks to trainees who have not yet established themselves as experienced drivers, do so and give them something to work up to.

As it is right now, companies with governed trucks are frustrating their drivers and creating a dangerous and unsafe situation that is just as volitile as the one created by foolish drivers who run 80 and 90 mph when given the right to run 75. When you combine the foolish drivers and the slow trucks, you get an idea of why there is so much stress-related anger displayed on the interstate highways of America.

One would assume that most companies are not aware of the stress created by their slow trucks, but I have seen a warning message sent by operations to a truck that exceeded its idling time that said, " if your idling time is not reduced promptly, your truck will be turned down to 60 mph." This tells me that inside personnel are fully aware of the effects of slow trucks on drivers and are willing and ready to use them as threats to ensure compliance with their policies by the drivers. It makes me wonder how many heart failures, breakdowns, acts of violence, and other medical maladies governed trucks have already caused due to the inability or unwillingness of these companies to render to their drivers the due respect of letting them DRIVE!

Only those drivers who have been there and done that will actually be able to relate fully to what has been written here. But I am confident that we are in the majority and that is why it is important that we bring about this change. In the end, it will be a change for the good of all concerned. To all of you who still drive those slow trucks, let someone know how it affects you and see a doctor if it becomes necessary. Maybe if enough of us do so, they will "GET IT!"


Happy Trails!
otr@cdldriver.net

Category: General