Show that you are a quality, hard-working, safe and reliable driver, and meet as many people in the chain of command as you can. When you do your job well, it makes them look good and makes their lives a lot easier.

But the opposite is also true and do not forget it. Being a trucker carries no prestige, I’m sorry to say, not even within a trucking company. But being a hard worker and a good person does. Make those your priorities and life will be much easier for you most of the time than it otherwise would have been, I can assure you. For example…

I was always an excellent truck driver. I ALWAYS ran hard and ALWAYS on time, I ran the lousy loads when they needed to; It was a fact… if you give me a job to do, you could consider it done. Once I was out of Bristol, TN on a Wednesday morning. I had just finished delivering my load about an hour ago and headed up the highway to the nearest truck stop for breakfast while I waited for my next assignment. Upon arrival, I noticed several NASCAR tractor trailers in the parking lot. Being a huge racing fan, I realized that the only two tracks they could be on their way to were Bristol, TN or Fort Worth, TX. I asked someone and sure enough, they were headed to Bristol, about an hour down the road.

I was sailing in a regional fleet and was going to keep racing the rest of the week until I got home on Friday or Saturday. But JEEEZ, I would love to take the rest of the week off and stay in Bristol for NASCAR! He had already been with my company for a few years and had proven himself to be a great truck driver, so I asked my dispatcher what he thought about letting me stay in Bristol for the races. He told me that he didn’t have the authority to approve that, which I already knew, but he always sorted everything out first (he was the best dispatcher he ever had).

He told me to talk to his boss, who I also knew very, very well, and I begged and pleaded with him. He said, “what are you going to do with the truck?” I told him that I was going to sleep in it every night, of course, and that it would be safe.

My justification: “Come on man, you know I kick ass here. Let me stay in Bristol this weekend. You know I’ll take care of the truck and make it up to you.” Of course he knew I was right and he let me stay. There are VERY few riders who would have been able to pull it off, but I had proven myself and gotten to know the right people and that was all it took.

I enjoyed the weekend at the races and had a great time. Everything went perfectly and on Monday morning I called back, got my next load and I was up and rolling again. Another great adventure on the road for this trucker.