It's a Team's Life

Everyone wants change but no one really wants change

Recently I read a lot of complaints about a load board that needed fixed or changed as it was cumbersome and then it was changed. Now everyone wants the load board to go back to the way it was as it was so much easier to use. Until everyone gets used to the changes it is going to be awful till it is changed again.

Hours of service is another good one, as we listened in to the listening sessions held all over the country we heard over and over again "I need to be able to pull over and rest when I am tired" bang they heard these drivers and now we have a mandatory 1/2 hour break and many hate it. Was change good?

During the presidential election I keep reading it is time for change. I wonder how will we handle this change? What if all road became toll roads since the government cannot afford to maintain them? What if the government got rid of all snow removal equipment and we had to pay for that service out of pocket. What about no more funding for libraries, rest areas, state parks, military, and the list could go on and on. What kind of change do we really want and are we ready for it?

Change in our vehicles, can you imagine not have having power steering, windshield wipers, or cup holders? When power steering was introduced it was a killer addition to our vehicles. Does the power steering ever mess up? Yes but we fix it and move on. Now there are very few vehicles on the road without power steering.

The "new" trucks that use DEF and electronics are looked upon with suspicion but as time has gone on these trucks are proving more and more reliable. There are new additions coming out to enhance the truck and our driving experience. In time we will take all of these changes for granted and will not be able to imagine a truck without them. How many new drivers all ready do not have a clue how to figure out a paper logbook?

Being involved with the changing process allows us to give our thoughts and become part of the change. This also helps to stay mentally balanced so that when the change comes about it is not a surprise. An example of this was when we were part of a team to test electronic logs. We knew electronic logs were going to be in our future and the ability to test the software as well as run paper logs gave us the chance to see how the ELD's were really going to affect us. Instead of dreading the electronic logs we were one of the first to go live.

There are changes I dislike, as I am not keeping up with the changes that are happening in the electronics world. Our daughter just bought a Roomba vacuum cleaner that vacuums while she is at work. The other day when talking to her she mentioned that she hated it when she came home and had to look for the Roomba, as it was lost. Now I can honestly say my vacuum cleaner has never wandered off by itself and is always where I last stored it. I can see the benefits of this as she has two big dogs that shed a lot and each day her Roomba wanders around the house vacuuming and then normally when done it returns to it's homeport and plugs back in.

A good example is happening to me today in the laundry room. We used to save all of our quarters for the machines and then we were able to use debit cards. At first I was not sure of this change but in time I started using the debit card and relying on the ease of not having to worry about quarters anymore. Today I am in a TA that does not use debit cards and I now have to buy quarters. The ease of using the debit card to do my laundry has allowed me to save my quarters for other uses.

Change can be frustrating but it is part of our lives and without change we are probably not alive. We can either embrace change or change kicking and screaming but either way we will change in time and we get to choose how we handle change.

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