Wednesday, January 11, 2017

The ABC's of Trucking

Nearly ten years ago, an Englishwoman named Denise Nesbitt started a blog to share her thoughts and ideas with her friends and to allow them to share theirs.
Under the humble title ABC Wednesday, she started with A and each week progressed through the alphabet sharing things in her world that were inspired by that letter.
It was so successful that she continued, round after round, and her blog has, to date, cycled through the alphabet 19 times. During the fourth year  she invited me to join her team and I have participated in one way or another since then.
After much heartbreaking consideration it was decided last year that the blog would discontinue and so round twenty will be the final round.

I have not always regularly contributed to the blog each week, but as this is the final round I am going to make an effort to fit it in among my various other daily activities (like working and stuff.)

Sometimes my posts will be elaborate, some weeks they might just be a picture or a quick thought. But I will try over the next 26 weeks to share some snippets of the trucking world, one letter at a time.

So this week let's start with:

A is for Attitude

An important aspect of trucking is attitude.
Trucking  is a career and a lifestyle that requires an enormous amount of dedication; If you approach it with a chip on your shoulder it's just a matter of time before someone will knock it off. 

In order to be successful in this industry you need to be flexible, patient and willing to learn.

 No matter how long you've been out on the road there are still new things that you can learn and once you've decided that there's nothing else to learn, it's time to hang up your keys and call it quits.

 As  a truck driver you are going to go places where they feel their time is more valuable than your time is and you can either accept that and get your load eventually, or you can be upset about that and get your load eventually.

 Don't believe the tough talking guy in the truck stop who tells you that all he had to do was throw a temper tantrum and he got his own way at the shipper or receiver. Temper tantrums are not effective tools in this industry.

Whether you are dealing with clients, law enforcement, your dispatcher, the cashier at the truck stop, or just your fellow drivers,  a nasty attitude will seldom get you very far. A smile a kind word and a little bit of courtesy and you will be down the road before you know it.

 Most of us get paid by the mile and it's a sad fact that the pay per mile is the same whether you drive with a grumpy face or a smile on your face. But an upbeat attitude can make those miles go by a lot faster

You can click RIGHT HERE to see what other participants around the world are sharing this week.

14 comments:

  1. A good attitude is important no matter what your job.
    KatieBankerchick

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    Replies
    1. That's so true Katie. Sometimes a good attitude is what makes the difference between a good job or a bad job. Thanks for visiting my blog and taking the time to comment.

      Delete
  2. Fantastic post that I'm sure would reverberate with people in ANY career! Thanks for all you've done so far with ABCW, Troy, and looking forward to seeing your contributions this round.

    Leslie
    abcw team

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    Replies
    1. The last few years, you guys did all the work. I just came along for the ride.

      And what a ride it has been!

      Thanks for stopping by.

      Delete
  3. HI Troy... first I thought "a new participant, yeeeyyy"..
    Then I saw your blogpost and realised that you are not a new participant but an 'older' one ;-)

    How wonderful to finally meet you, the person behind so many beautiful logo's! Thank you for that!!

    Although this is pronounced to be the final tour, I trust of the fact that it will continue, maybe some things change a little but still. We'll just have to wait and see what will happen, won't we?

    Have a nice ABC-Wednesday / _ Week
    ♫ M e l ☺ d y ♫ (abc=w=team)
    http://melodymusic.nl/abc-wednesday-20a/

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    1. I might as well be new. Back when I first started it was with an old blog that I don't use any more so this is the first time for this one.

      It would be fun to see someone pick it up and run with it, it seems a shame for it to end after all these years.

      Thanks for stopping by.

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  4. Hello Troy,
    At last we meet, I wondered who the mysterious 'Troy' was? He who drew up the
    amazing Logos for the meme.
    I agree that Denise did an amazing job in creating
    ABCW then Roger and Leslie following on.
    I had reached a low ebb in my life, I had a blog
    site but had got to a point where I couldn't conjour up any ideas of what to write about,
    Then, along came Leslie and Denise who persuaded me to join, which I did...and still here now.
    I have a lot to thank you guys for.
    I rather like the idea of the life style of a truck driver, it must be very interesting,
    but then,
    Scary too!
    Looking forward to more stories of life on the road,
    Happy New Year Troy and all best wishes for 2017,
    Di xx
    Abcw team.

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    1. I guess I HAVE been kind of a "behind the scenes" team member.

      It's been fun though.

      I'll try to keep up, hopefully throughout the alphabet there will be some fun and interesting things to share.

      Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment.

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  5. Attitude is everything! What a fun round of ABC...I look forward to your posts Troy!

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  6. What would I do without you Linda? For all of the years that I have been blogging in whatever format or forum you have always been there Loyally reading my posts and leaving me supporting comments you are such a good friend. you have such a wonderful attitude so patient so tolerant you have what it takes to be a good truck driver.

    Thanks for stopping by and for being such a good friend.

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  7. I like your ABC designs. Now, I get the inspiration behind the one with the trucks. Once upon a time I thought I'd like to be a long distance big rig truck driver. Toot, toot!

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    1. It is an interesting life. Sometimes exciting, sometimes exasperating, but seldom boring.

      Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving me a comment.

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  8. Troy - you have always had a good attitude, despite it all!

    ROG, ABCW

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    Replies
    1. It isn't always easy. But I give it my best shot.

      Thanks for stopping by.

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