I drive to protect the motoring public and myself.
I do my best to present a neat, clean appearance.
I maintain and operate my vehicle in a safe, professional manner at all times.
I comply with all safety rules, regulations, and laws.
I treat shipper/receiver personnel with courtesy and respect. Despite what they do, I act professionally.
I am courteous to all other drivers.
I set a good example for less experienced large vehicle drivers.
I am always professional when dealing with four-wheel vehicle drivers.
I practice driving defensively every day, and I avoid:
Speeding
Deliberately tailgating other vehicles
Driving aggressively
“Getting back” at other drivers
I work to improve highway safety by reporting:
Crashes to traffic safety agencies
Unsafe drivers
Unsafe road conditions
Situations that could cause a crash
I do my best to deliver my load safely and on time.
I take pride in my profession and encourage other drivers to do the same.
I do my best to inform the motoring public about how to share the road safely with trucks.
Source: South Carolina Trucking Association
The above list is awesome and a great code to live by. I have a problem with one of these items that I am constantly trying to work on. I am able to control road rage in the truck until it comes to a lane being closed and the cars that just insist on trying to cut me off. They wait till the last second to get over when I have been in line for up to several miles and I just have a very hard time backing off and letting them in. Since our truck is smaller I am often able to "tail gate' the car or truck in front of me and make the car on the shoulder stop and try to push their way in behind me. I am have been working at trying to relax more in these situations and just worry about getting on down the road and if a car squeezes in who cares.
I have also found that when faced with a rude clerk or forklift operator I want to get rude right back in their face. That is why Bob now deals with most of these situations. When we have a inside delivery and pickup, or a load that needs specialized wrapping and handling I will help but I let Bob take the lead and I follow. He is very good at dealing with unreasonable and rude people.
We will continue to put our best foot forward and try to lead by example.
Funghi
3 days ago
Those are good things to follow, in a perfect world. I also have problems with rude people and have major control problems when I am faced with them. Like Bob, Ruth Ann pretty much has to take over. Everytimne i put my best foot forward I trip over it..lol...great post.
ReplyDeleteI like this post. I'm with you on the people squeezing in thing. I look at it this way - I'm bigger than them. Sometimes, I'll let them in, but most times I just keep moving slowly forward until they realize they aren't going anywhere. But it does suck when they speed up to get around you, into the one lane of construction only to slow down because of the people in front of them.
ReplyDeleteI think maybe having tolerance for rude people or drivers comes with time, I'm not sure. I know Brad has been out here for some time, so obviously that's not the case with him (LOL) but Ed has told me time and again that the trucking industry is just what it is. I have a real problem with incompetence and people not doing THEIR job correctly and because they don't, it impacts MY job (this weekend's screw up is a perfect example). Ed is more laid back and easygoing. Sometimes if I feel like he's getitng nowhere, I step in, but in order to not make us the "Team From Hell" to deal with, I'll often hand the situation over to him.