It's a Team's Life
It is not about how much income you gross; it is about how much you keep.
In pursuit of the mighty dollar, it is easy to get sidetracked and spend all of the income plus some. Loans and credit cards are convenient ways to spend before the money is earned. There are a plethora of reasons to overspend and fewer reasons to save money. It is challenging to out work overspending.
Advertisements bombard us with the idea that we deserve whatever they are selling. Why wait when we can purchase something now with a low-interest rate? Or what are you waiting for buy now!
All of this leads to income vs. expenses, and the fewer payments you have, the more you keep. The famous saying in trucking “Don’t haul Cheap Freight” is impossible because what is cheap freight?
Everyone has different goals in life, and they are all good for that person. The problem is when we hear someone talk about how much money they grossed in their business; it does not apply to us as we do not have the same operation or goals. Some drivers thrive by being on the road away from home for months at a time, and other drivers need to be home each weekend. There are also all types of operations from heavy haul to those in a sprinter van, and their gross income is nowhere near the same, but the net could easily be comparable.
Before you get excited about what someone says, the gross amount of income they have made figure out their operation, and is that something you are willing and able to perform? Do their goals match your goals? Some people like to live simply, and others thrive on having lots of toys, a large house, and places to go.
Funny, this reminds me of drivers that want to match the spec’s on some of our trucks. During the conversation, questions will come up about how we drive, the tires we run, how we fuel, and that we do not idle. Pretty soon, we start hearing well I do not want to do that or drive that speed. That is fine spec your truck to fit your operation just as we spec’d our truck to match our operation. Don’t get upset when what you have spec’d does not perform the same as our truck; your goals are different than ours.
Asking someone else how much income they grossed in trucking is a number that does not mean much without the rest of the story.
Bob & Linda Caffee
TeamCaffee
Saint Louis MO
Expediters since January 2005
Expediting isn't just trucking, it's a lifestyle;
Expediting isn't just a lifestyle, it's an adventure;
Expediting isn't just an adventure, it's a job;
Expediting isn't just a job, it's a business.