I have a friend in California who owns a trucking company and I can for sure say when its time to work he on on that phone getting everything in order, checking routes optimum path, he is on his phone cranking it up yelling at times as if I am watching a commander ordering his troops in the battle field. Things always goes wrong and he picks up the phone instantly. I completely understand your struggle @Galenkp. My buddy likes to tell me all about how something went really well made a shit ton of profit and in some other days he is being challenged with situations not easy to solve. And 99%... actually 100% is because its a people problem.
There is lots of emotions in that industry.
what I find very interesting is I am not sure if its because of the work style of trucking industry or maybe its his personality... He knows how to stop a conversation when the phone rings and if something is good and/or bad there is a lot of fast talking, pin point decision making on the spot, calling other connections when things down follow through.. ect. Soooo much going on .. and then after he hangs up the phone.... he just comes back to me and continues what we ate for dinner yesterday smiling and laughing. hahahahahaha!!
Its like he has a control switch on him that turns trucking biz work mode on and off.
I am a pretty good listener so he likes to explain to me a lot about his work. I like to listen cause I think it helps him relieve some stress during the day. I can say it ain't easy work... not sure how many can really understand your situation until they see it in action.
I guess when those challenges arise it needs to be solved swiftly... straight up if something ain't right you just gotta be responsible and stick with the plan until further solutions are thought out. I sometimes think life is almost the same and how logistics companies handle problems. Sometimes its under your control and sometimes it ain't. I learn from my buddy that the ones that is not under your control needs to be the most cut throat diligent, if there is a loss just eat it up and quickly move on to the next.
Thats what I learned how to deal with situations from being there for my trucking friend. :)
Monkey see, monkey do.
Ah here you are, someone who actually has a clue about trucking, transport and logistics. Yeah, it's a massive and vicious beast indeed and can, at times, have a voracious appetite.
I always find it interesting how clueless people are about what things would look like without a functional logistics and transport industry. I can explain it simply: Three to four days without it and the shelves are empty, the gas stations have no fuel, public transport stops, business stops...and the chaos starts.
I'm less involved with the operational aspects, the routes and all, and more about winning the clients who can be anyone from a small business to a multi-national company like Ceva Logistics spending millions on transport a year with us. It's interesting work but the immediacy of it means there's stress and pressure.