Right now, I’m talking to my fleet owners who don’t have a CDL. A Commercial Driver’s License. I know there are lots of you out there right now, running dispatch or a trucking company and feeling the pressure without this document.

I understand it can be a little intimidating because you don’t know how to actually drive the truck that you own. You spend all this money of this big machine, and you can’t control it. It’s all good y’all. You still got this.

I’ll tell you this. As somebody who doesn’t have a CDL, it doesn’t mean I don’t understand the truck and the moving components. I’ve shadowed my mechanic for years. When they’re working on my trucks I’ll pop in and be over their backs learning what I can about parts and everything else. I literally learned every single button in the truck because sometimes my drivers have issues and I can walk them through it.

“I just learned, I listened, and paid attention.”

They’re always gonna be surprised and I tell them, I just learned, I listened, and paid attention. And I spent a lot of time with my mechanics. I always have done this and I always will do this. I’ll never stop learning so I can continue to better my service and support my team. I’m saving a lot of time with the things I know, and it’s all going back into my business.

So my advice to you guys that are fleet owners and don’t drive the trucks, is to really spend some time with your mechanic. Have your guy do a tutorial, going through and showing you all the mechanics and what each button does. You are gonna bring him a lot of business so work on that relationship and take what you can get from it.

That way, when you are communicating with your driver and he starts shooting out like different buttons or even if your truck is in a shop or something and they’re trying to explain to you what’s wrong with your truck, you’ll be able to understand the lingo. You will know why somethings happened and how it happened and you can make sure it ain’t happening again.

That’s what has really helped me out. A lot of situations where I even saved money because you couldn’t talk circles around me. I knew which parts were which, I knew what needed to be changed and it helped me become a better fleet owner.

So, make sure you spend some time with your truck and get to know it because you’ll definitely benefit in the long run. You, your drivers and your trucks will all benefit as if you had your CDL.