So many projects in mind, and all in the business of being a Sole Proprietor. Much of it was put on hold for two reasons:
- A broken economy
- A “truck lease to purchase” program
Both of the two seems to be coming to a conclusion, and humbly, I get to boast only about one of them. With a little over 100 days to go, plans to get started with the beginning business plan needs to be planned and prepared for. At the same time, the contract to own a Tractor is still not done, and until then, the main focus remains the lease that I am bound to. It originated as a three year contract, with changes made along the way. But no matter how much the contract was altered, and even supplemented, the original contract remained in tact if for no other reasons than to work for three years (total) towards owning a commercial vehicle.
A Plan Beginning on hold before leaving the starting gates
I have written times before that my goal in the year 2006, was to open a residential computer learning center, offering repair service, and short “how to” articles on the personal computer, networking, the internet, and so on. I even started out contracting to service computers and worked on a plan to do private repairs as well. The first thing I started on was moving. I moved to Pennsylvania, and was even ready to buy (mortgage) a building. Everything about the unknown future was exciting. The excitement slowly dwindled, as the real world’s issues began affecting us all. But, just as my promising future was still “up in the air” and in a learn as I go stage, hints of the economy and its appending breakdown were starting to punch holes in a modest dream. I had two things against me; not knowing all my next moves, and, what was happening to the economy at the time.
I started moving real quick with my goals, and in a manner of several months, I altered my plan to start with a workshop, and continue with contracted service work. Then, some time in July, something in the news made me stop, and even stall. I didn’t know what it was, but my gut told me to return four Servers when they arrived at my apartment’s doorstep. I was so close to have my own self supported website and network, but the news, although vague, had me even call to close the business, HY Recourses (a name derived from my family senior branches of the Harris and Yahnig family line). For the first time, I had cold feet, and broke my first lease to own of four computer Servers. Of course, then came doubts. And now, a business name stayed in a so called”start up” state. Looking back, if it wasn’t for believing my gut feelings, I would have lost it all by now (even though in reality, there hasn’t been much to say I gained). Six years later, the goal to return to the business, and the name, becomes a little more real again. But the business plan has changed so much, it will be like starting “something out of nothing”.
Commercial Driver’s License
The purpose of going to school and getting a CDL (Commercial Driver’s License) had many more personal values than professional goals. It certainly was not part of why I moved to Pennsylvania. The personal reasoning remains just that, personal, except for the opportunity to see the country I once served for, and if nothing else, to understand many of my family members and their struggles, as well as what drove them, in this profession. It was not the first time I had the curiosity of driving a “Big Rig”, but it was more than a decade in between for the curiosity to resurface. As far as how it was to tie into the originating business, well, it had nothing to do with it at all. Professionally, with everything unwinding in the news, I was looking for something to fall back on, while I was constantly reworking details on my own business. I thought it would be just a job to fill in the gaps of financial resource, and if nothing else, another experience to fall back on. I mean that gut feeling I had felt like there was “hard times” ahead. Little did I know, gaining the experience of professional driving had it’s own challenges.
Since I had some idea of how much it would take to get a CDL, I went through a business, Smith & Solomon, to get the initial concepts of being a “Truck Driver”. In fact, it was fun! But the words, “initial concepts”, was only the beginning. And with a CDL obtained, a whole new world and lifestyle opened up to me, rather, it consumed me! The next series of things to obtain was going to take time, and they were all personal achievement; first, the confidence, then, the endurance. I did say this world would consume me…it did! And believe it or not, I had I CDL in one hand while holding onto a computer business dream in the other. As the time with the economy got worse, only one hand was more believable than the other. So, I moved forward with the CDL, thinking it would be something I would do “part time”. Almost six years later, and I am still trying to harness when this will be part time. Honestly, I have asked myself multiple times, “What in the world did I get myself into?”
Over the years… with a CDL
There is a “bug” that comes with this Profession. I mean, once you get involved in this field, it stays in your blood. I have met two people who have retired from truck driving, and one stated that he was “home sick”. Missing the work that challenged you through all types of weather, and roaming the country down as many roads a driver can take, yeah, I can now understand it. I mentioned that after obtaining a CDL, I would still be missing the confidence and endurance, as like anyone starting out would need to gain. The confidence was a learning curve, provided you were up to staying with the license and profession, to gain the endurance. After five months of driving, I tried to pack it in.I sat at home for awhile, back to working on my skimmed business plan, while watching the news, as economic times got tough…and, it was only the beginning.
Two months later, I attempted driving of a Commuter Bus line, only to walk away from that four months down the line. Part of me wanted to drive a truck. That “bug” was now a part of me too. Still, at age 42, I needed to gain those two requirements, confidence and endurance. With each attempt in returning to the role of truck driving, my confidence and aptitude grew much faster than my endurance. I worked a for a few more companies, only to need to go home and give it up again. Of course, there are many roles in truck driving. The main one is “Over the Road”, covering 48 states. The second is Regional Driving, which covers a smaller amount of territory. Dedicated driving serves one type of customer. I had the opportunity to sample each type of challenging role. I also had the opportunity to pull double trailers, that also involved crossing country lines into Canada. All of it was an experience to become part of, and all of it was done in a short three years. I just didn’t have the endurance to keep on rolling. I needed these breaks in between. Not weekend breaks, more like, a few weeks at a time. It gave me a chance to look back at what I did, and digest the whole understanding of truck driving. There is so much involved in understanding this field. My biggest issue was still endurance.
Looking back, with each time I took those “breaks” from the field the more I desired to “master” the role. I was becoming obsessed with “knowing I can do this”. I just needed the incentive to fight for that endurance. Something that would make me stick with it. With some thought, I concluded that the “bug” was in my blood, but it didn’t have the same affect as those who do this as a living. The average driver goes for this as a career. I was just looking for something to fall back on. There is a drive in a person who makes themselves go through all types of traffic, seasonal weather conditions, and find it a challenge. I didn’t go into this role with the right intention. This was not supposed to be a career. In truth, this profession is more than just a career. It is a lifestyle. The last time I lived through anything like this and called it a “lifestyle” for which I wished I never left; It was serving in the Army, where even today I can say that I am “home sick”. That “bug” still had me though. The next opportunity that came along was supposed to help me with my issue of endurance. I got myself involved in a “lease to purchase” program.
The inspirations found along the way
Those first three years were the hardest for me. I was my worst enemy. People who do this, do it as a career or career change. I did it, in the hardest way, to simply understand the profession. I got what I asked for, and so much more. Why not just give it up? Sure, I got to see the country I served, and there was that personal obsession to know I can do this. Why go the extra steps to be involved in a lease program that comes with so much to obligation and penalties, should I then give up? One hand has the CDL, and the other, my dream in computing. What was the inspiring me to do this? Well, it has to be broken down into many little pieces, but two of those pieces can be understood. The economy was still looking to find a “floor” or bottom. My credit needed to be paid off. but the third, was my personal inspiration. And, it had much to do with computers.
My first place of employment required that I drove with a trainer, until I gained a certain amount of driving hours. This gave me an opportunity to ask the questions needed to be known in professional driving; while it gave the time for the company to know I could go “solo” and be assigned my own truck. Of course, I had a computer with me. I’m a geek. I won’t deny it. Well, one night, my trainer found himself in unfamiliar territory, and my first inspiration was to grab my computer, and start up my Microsoft Streets & Maps program. It was not configured to know limitations on where a truck can go, and even what can be configured, it was not a truck map. But, it was enough that the both of us could figure where the truck could roll, and most importantly, where we were heading, and where we came from. Once “back on track”, and as I was putting the computer away, he remarked, “I have to get one of those”. I tried to just take what had transpired all in, and didn’t say a word, well, until something caught my eye, and I exclaimed, “Did we just pass Fenway Park?!”
It was from that moment, besides making every ball park a theme to find while through this training stage, I realized there was a potential place for a computer, a mapping program, and for a truck driver. Through these last five years, making the computer have a purpose was my own “Business Development”. But it was done in stages, and in the beginning, there was just time for using the computer for emails and entertainment, and when the truck was not rolling. The first real roll came when I took what is called “home time”, and went to empty all my paperwork into a closet. By my second home time, more paperwork was now piling up. There was no order to the pile either. I realized that the pile was also heavier. It made me think that the more I stayed out, the more paperwork would gain weight and space, and that was inside the truck, until it found its way to this now growing pile. I had a new incentive.
It took some time, and through different jobs, to develop a routine, that today has me recording every assigned load (in detail), track my fuel and business purchases, and then scan the paperwork onto the computer in an organized fashion to be recalled, and even analyzed. I also purchased a Driver’s Daily Log computer program, and over time made that my log book for my daily “lifestyle”. By the way, two different map programs are used routinely. One, configured to limit road, time, and help figure the estimated time from one point to another; while the other program (also able to be configured to a point) has a GPS, and runs all the time tracking the travels, that I keep as a record(comes in handy when needing to know where you are so I can write it accurately in my logbook too). In short, one I use to preplan my route and stops with, while the other records the actual driving and location. Together I have an electronic record of every aspect to the performance of Commercial Driving. I also have a Wireless Card to connect to the internet, used quite often to find locations, and up to date roads, where my programs are slowly outdated. In four years, I have successfully created an office…on ten wheels. Now comes the next step in this development… getting the word out, and the concepts on how to do it.
It took four years. The inspiration was not only limited to this one inspiration of “records keeping”, since this was my second year with Turbo Tax too. Over time, I saw more drivers with computers, using them for emails and internet surfing, along with watching the latest DVD movie. A few more were using spreadsheets to track their loads, and were my inspiration to cover every aspect of records keeping on the computer. I saw others using map programs, but not at my level of planning the trip. Much was just to locate each place, rather than plan from the beginning point to the end point, and all the planned stops along the way. There is still much to perfect and learn, but in over five years time, I have come to the point where I can call it an office on wheels. Business Development is supposed to exist, and still does. The next goal seems just as hard as building endurance, something I call “switching gears”. When the truck goes off, the computer goes on, and all the records must be up to date, just like the rules of a driver’s daily log. It is always going to be a work in progress. This new fight is because when the truck is shut down, a person naturally wants to just simply rest, and not switch roles, and now call it an office. It is not about endurance, instead a concept of switching from the roles of professional driving, to working in a cubical type space (minus the formal shirt & tie appearance).
It really took time to do that “switching gears” concept, and another obsession to master. But where there is a work in progress, there is also reflection and achievement. And, I finally have the endurance to be in the truck…without the need to “get away from it all”. The type of contract also forced me to a limit of only four days off per month, for home time (barely enough time to go home to get the bills; by the way almost all of that now done online too). In four months, the ownership of a truck is the contracted reward. In my case, I am walking on with so much more. I got my endurance and confidence in professional driving; and, built the concept of an office on wheels, with a great need to share in “How To” writings and text. I found a market. Well, that is misleading, since I’ll be owning a commercial vehicle (fingers still crossed here). To make sense of it all, in one hand is a commercial license, with a contract that ends with becoming an owner operator. The catch is… I never let go of what was in my other hand.
True, it is hard to comprehend. But there still is a chance of making this role a part time driving experience, rather than give it up. That school has shrunk to video’s and text to buy online. There is a database being built for truck stop fueling locations, with another in the works to take place of the spreadsheet for tracking loads and expenses. I see advertising the use of the program still used called the Drivers Daily log, along with promoting the mapping programs with GPS. How am I going to juggle commercial driving and computing as a single business model? I don’t know yet. But looking back at where I started, I have come a long way. Don’t forget that there were two things that got me on this direction. The second was the economy. Even that looks like it has found no where else to go but up.
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