I just want to take a moment to acknowledge the outstanding and positive pieces that have been contributed by Tim Wylder, Kimberly Jade, Lindsay Godfree, Desiree Wood, Salena Lattera and others. Life On The Road offers an amazing well-balanced cross section of what the “lifestyle” is all about for a professional over-the-road truck driver. Our writers open themselves up honestly and intelligently about their personal experiences and take the time to communicate to others the many ups and downs of the trucking industry.
For me personally, I’ve been involved in the logistics business for over 30 years – about 15 of those were behind the wheel. For many, being a “trucker” is a dream come true – the chance to be free, no boss watching over their back, being a “paid tourist”, the excitement of not knowing the challenges of the next load. Behind them are the amazing families who support them while they’re away from home. For others, that is not the case and they, like so many others right now, are hurting and struggling.
Life On The Road endeavors to tell all their stories, both positive and negative. Every industry has its protagonists, iconoclasts and antagonists. Speaking for myself, I seek the best for every human resources that comprises what is now commonly referred to as the supply chain, a vital component being trucking. “We” want the highest compensation, the best benefits, the most respect – the absolute most superior equipment and working conditions that can be provided for “our” people. Sometimes, one of the ways to achieve that is to stir up the sediment at the bottom of the tank, so to speak.
Let’s move outside of trucking for a moment, in another part of the supply chain – purchasing. I had been a manager with two Fortune 500 corporate purchasing efforts – one with a major global bank and the other, with, at the time, one the “big-three” television and radio networks. I didn’t necessarily buy stuff, like a typical purchasing agent, but was part of a team to improve the image, the pay, the benefits and the working conditions and environment of our purchasing function. Very similar to what a handful of us are trying to do for truck drivers.
We had a problem. Purchasing wasn’t taken very seriously within the corporate structure. Consequently, the folks that worked in these departments weren’t held in high regard, like, for example, the salespeople and the legal department. If you wanted something, you always had to go through purchasing with their bids and vendors and PO’s. Many supervisors and managers, if and when they could, simply went around purchasing and tried to buy what they needed on their own.
And there was the more serious problem. Because purchasing agents weren’t paid very much, there was an “issue” of payoffs. The Christmas card that was a bit thicker than normal. The Knicks tickets. Substituting for one purchasing manager, I was offered a weekend plane ride to Switzerland, in order to let one vendor win his paper bid. A similar function or job in another part of the company received almost 2/3rd’s greater pay and benefits than purchasing people.
The purchasing desired better, but were powerless to affect any change. And quite honestly, they weren’t doing much to help themselves in their attitude and appearance. Once a VP was in the corporate dog house, but was too valuable to fire, he was assigned to manage the purchasing department for a year or two. After his time in purgatory, he was reassigned somewhere elsewhere and usually retired years after.
I’m sorry to report that the two departments that were beneath purchasing was the mailroom, then shipping and receiving. There was a terrible joke going around that if a senior manager had a relative that was kind of “off” and couldn’t get a job elsewhere, there was always a job for him in purchasing or shipping and receiving.
To make a long story short, we turned it completely around. We hired a purchasing – logistics professional with an MBA. A corporate-wide purchasing manual and policy guide was written and distributed to every supervisor and management in the company. We trained and upgraded every purchasing employee in pay and status. We eliminated any “temptation” for payoffs, gifts and bribes. The purchasing department was relocated and given new larger more impressive offices. No longer would vendors have to go through the back door to office facilities that weren’t on par with sales or the legal department.
The best part was that corporate purchasing was transformed from a “cost-center” to a “profit-center” that paid for itself three-fold. I was proud to be part of that effort. It is exactly what “we” are trying to do for truckers and the entire trucking industry. There are those who might not our “negativity” but there are reasons for it and we know what we are doing based on years of experience. The ATA and OOIDA has failed. It is up to “us” who stir the pot and push and cajole the bureaucratic establishment to do better. Call it CANEI – constant and never ending improvement. We have a long way to go. We might never get there. But, we will keep on pushing. Embrace it, don’t fight it. Hail to the cause!
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