Yes I am well aware that an ugly truck makes just as much money going down the road as a good looking truck. I have also been guilty of making the comment you can’t eat looks. (That also depends on where your mind is at the present moment) But we are talking trucks.
Even though the looks of a truck has absolutely no bearing on how much money that truck generates it has a huge impact on the drivers attitude.
Perhaps this is not the case with all drivers, but I can attest that ANY Owner/Operator that has pride in what he does cares what his/her truck looks like. A positive attitude comes with a nice looking piece of equipment. We take pride in our rides and the job we do. And if we don’t look good, our trucks don’t look good, well, we just don’t feel right.
Possibly it is just an ego thing. After all we love it when we pull into a shipper or receivers yard and they compliment us on our equipment.
Now perhaps I should retract my previous statement about an ugly truck generating just as much income as a good looking truck. Why? Think about it this way for a minute. If you are a shipper who is paying a couple thousand dollars to move your freight, would you rather hire the guy who obviously takes pride in what he does, or the person with the equipment that may or may not be able to deliver the freight?
As far as driver attitude goes? Well, if he/she is happy with what he/she drives, then they take better care of it. He or She will also take more pride in their appearance. The end results are the customer gets a person who presents themselves and the company they are working for as professionals. This again results in more business for the company ensuring more business for the truck.
Now I am pretty sure my wife would say I am a little too quick sometimes to spend money on the truck. After all if it isn’t broke why fix it? And even though she doesn’t always understand my thought process I am one of these people who believe in fixing it before it breaks if possible. Preventive maintenance goes a long ways to securing your money.
Trucks are mechanical, just a piece of equipment, and as a result things on them wear out. Replacing that part that is bound to wear out before it fails costs much less at home or your local shop than it will on the road. Take belts for example, a set of belts on my truck set me back 200+ bucks with tax. They take about an hour to swap out, when it’s not 100+ degrees outside. Should that belt break out on the road and I don’t have the tools or a spare, we are talking 500.00+ bucks. Replacing shocks costs about 80.00 a piece, however not replacing your shocks results in early tire wear and failure. Failure on the road = 500.00 or the difference between 50,000 miles and 110,000 miles on a steer.
So we like our trucks, clean, shiny, and in good repair. Perhaps that doesn’t make us more money per mile at times, but in the end it equates to customers who feel more secure and want to use us more. It tends to result in us having more pride in what we do, hence making it easier to pull that 700 mile over night run if we need to because we enjoy what we are doing. Customers look at us as professionals and I have noticed if my equipment is clean at times I get greeted with a more positive attitude than the guy with the floppy bumper brand truck that hasn’t been washed in a month.
Take pride in your ride, yourself, and your profession!
Even though the looks of a truck has absolutely no bearing on how much money that truck generates it has a huge impact on the drivers attitude.
Perhaps this is not the case with all drivers, but I can attest that ANY Owner/Operator that has pride in what he does cares what his/her truck looks like. A positive attitude comes with a nice looking piece of equipment. We take pride in our rides and the job we do. And if we don’t look good, our trucks don’t look good, well, we just don’t feel right.
Possibly it is just an ego thing. After all we love it when we pull into a shipper or receivers yard and they compliment us on our equipment.
Now perhaps I should retract my previous statement about an ugly truck generating just as much income as a good looking truck. Why? Think about it this way for a minute. If you are a shipper who is paying a couple thousand dollars to move your freight, would you rather hire the guy who obviously takes pride in what he does, or the person with the equipment that may or may not be able to deliver the freight?
As far as driver attitude goes? Well, if he/she is happy with what he/she drives, then they take better care of it. He or She will also take more pride in their appearance. The end results are the customer gets a person who presents themselves and the company they are working for as professionals. This again results in more business for the company ensuring more business for the truck.
Now I am pretty sure my wife would say I am a little too quick sometimes to spend money on the truck. After all if it isn’t broke why fix it? And even though she doesn’t always understand my thought process I am one of these people who believe in fixing it before it breaks if possible. Preventive maintenance goes a long ways to securing your money.
Trucks are mechanical, just a piece of equipment, and as a result things on them wear out. Replacing that part that is bound to wear out before it fails costs much less at home or your local shop than it will on the road. Take belts for example, a set of belts on my truck set me back 200+ bucks with tax. They take about an hour to swap out, when it’s not 100+ degrees outside. Should that belt break out on the road and I don’t have the tools or a spare, we are talking 500.00+ bucks. Replacing shocks costs about 80.00 a piece, however not replacing your shocks results in early tire wear and failure. Failure on the road = 500.00 or the difference between 50,000 miles and 110,000 miles on a steer.
So we like our trucks, clean, shiny, and in good repair. Perhaps that doesn’t make us more money per mile at times, but in the end it equates to customers who feel more secure and want to use us more. It tends to result in us having more pride in what we do, hence making it easier to pull that 700 mile over night run if we need to because we enjoy what we are doing. Customers look at us as professionals and I have noticed if my equipment is clean at times I get greeted with a more positive attitude than the guy with the floppy bumper brand truck that hasn’t been washed in a month.
Take pride in your ride, yourself, and your profession!
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