Episode 114: Building Success One Mile at a Time

In this episode of Keep Trucking Personal, Tyler Kivi talks about the realities of becoming a professional driver and what rookie drivers learn once they hit the open road on their own. From handling responsibility behind the wheel to managing time, weather, communication, and life away from home, Tyler shares honest advice designed to help new drivers succeed for the long haul.

He also dives into the mental side of trucking, the importance of discipline and consistency, and why experience is earned one mile at a time. Tyler explains what companies are really looking for in drivers, why attitude and coachability matter, and how dependable drivers separate themselves in the industry.

Whether you’re just getting started, exploring a new opportunity, or already years into your trucking career, this episode is packed with perspective, motivation, and practical insight to help you stay focused, keep improving, and continue building a successful career on the road. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Keep Trucking Personal. I'm Tyler TV, a third generation trucker. My purpose is simple. Make sure the definition of trucking doesn't get lost in the culture this industry is drifting toward. This podcast is about real stories, the hard lessons, and the standards that built this business long before apps and algorithms. If you believe trucking is more than freight and it's responsibility, you're in the right place. Let's get into it. Hey guys, welcome back. My name is Tyler and I'm your host. It's a holiday weekend coming up, and I want to talk a little bit about if you are going to be home, or let's say you're not going to be home, but protecting yourself while you're out on the road during these holidays. Memorial weekend, if you are home and you're parking your truck somewhere specific, make sure that you are paying attention to where you're putting it, especially if you're loaded. You do not want an extra set of eyes or somebody watching your freight that has bad intentions because it does happen during the holidays. That's when that's when these people are looking for it. So, first and foremost, enjoy your holiday weekend. Be prepared. Make sure that you're focused on where you're parking your truck and that it's set up for success. You do not want somebody trying to do something bad. Last week we talked about that new driver into the industry and that gap that is hard to get, right? Experience and what to do to set yourself up for success, right? Find tenure, make sure you keep your record clean, do all the right things, right? And I'm sure you you probably already assume that. But I want to talk a little bit more about those new drivers, and I'm gonna coin them a rookie in this episode. And so it's more about what the rookie drivers don't understand about trucking yet. And this is also to help set you up for success. And even if you're an experienced driver, you might want to listen to this and go through it and say, okay, yeah, I'm checking those boxes. It makes sense to me. I can see where he's coming from, or hey, maybe I need to recalibrate and go through it. Because there are a lot of things that rookie drivers don't fully understand yet. And honestly, that's okay. That's normal because trucking school teaches you how to get your CDL. You ride with a trainer, you might get that comfort of having somebody there with you the whole time. But when you're on the open road and you are alone, that's really when it's going to teach you how to be a trucker. And that changes fast. I'm sure you can understand. And if you've done that process, that was your roadmap, or you had a got your license, had a trainer, went through all of it, and then got out on your own. It's invigorating to be solo, but that's when the shocks start to set in, right? Everything changes. It's on you. Every decision is on you. You are responsible completely for that truck, for the load, the trip planning, you know, weather decisions, uh, and I mean like storms, rain, you know, snow, ice, time management, that's on you. Communication, making sure you set the bar high, safety, making sure you do it right over and over and over. Nobody is standing there holding your hand anymore. You are the one. And that can feel overwhelming at first. I know it because I was there. And a lot of people think that you're just driving and it's easy. It's not. There's so much decision making that you're going through. And I have so many episodes, if you go back through it, about staying calm under pressure and thinking ahead and solving problems and managing time and staying disciplined because those are the fundamentals that keep you moving forward. Anyone can hold a steering wheel, anybody can. The hardest part is handling everything else that comes with it. And so many of the things that a rookie driver doesn't understand is how much trucking can change your lifestyle. You know, you and I've seen this play out more than you know. I've seen a lot of drivers that come into the OTR side not prepared. They let's say you're a class A holder and you're a garbage truck driver, you're not making enough money. You know, OTR can produce big money, you're qualified in all the right reasons. You might need training on flatbed. You get that training, you get out on the road, and you start to realize, wow, this is a big deal being gone this much. You know, there's a lot that my family shoulders while I'm gone. And taking care of the properties or the home or school. I mean, you know, it goes on and on. Your routine changes. You went from having a seven to a seven to five, or maybe it was even four to you know, you started early in the morning, but you were done at a consistent time. Now all of a sudden your routine is ebbing and flowing with where you're headed, the weather, all the conditions, everything that plays out. Your sleep is different. And that's an important one that sets your mindset up for the whole day, for the whole week and the month. That changes. Your eating changes. You used to pack your lunch or eat lunch at the same place every day consistently, and that was what you were used to. And now you're challenged with a loves or a flying J and trying to decide if you want to eat you know pizza from there or the subway that's attached to it, or are you gonna shop and make your own food, right? Decisions you have to make. And I hope you're picking the healthiest one to say that. But and then the mental side, all of that builds up how your mental state is when you're out on the road. And right away, there may be drivers that get challenged with hey, loneliness, right? Isolation. I used to be part of a small team when I worked local or prior to getting my license and traveling, some burden extra stress, frustration, just because it's just how it builds up, right? You start missing home, start to wonder how fast I can get back to home. And I'm not saying this to scare any individual. I'm saying it because I've seen it play out several times. I've had those conversations with drivers where we went through and said, How can we set you up for success? Make sure we're on the same page. And it's easy to just get a simple yes. Yeah, I'm good, I'm good. I got it. I'm on the same page, I'm happy. Until you get there and you're in that spot, that isolation really kicks in. That's the real stuff about it. Now, the other side of the coin, there's a lot of positives when you get to go on your own. All of those things just flip them over, right? Many people love the traveling, many people love being independent and making decisions on their own and getting the opportunity to set the bar high and overperform every single day. And they're just challenged and they love that. And that part is what's this career, is so vast and it offers so much. That's why it's exciting. But you have to be aware of what can challenge you, and that's why I talk about it to set you up for success. And so, if you're a like I said, an experienced driver, or hey, I'm getting that license, I'm ready to go, I'm searching companies, and you'll be surprised how many drivers do their homework very well. I've spoken to many drivers when they're coming on board to Kiwi, they'll say, Hey, I checked out the podcast, I listened to several episodes, I checked out your social media, I went through all kinds of avenues, I met a couple of your drivers. You guys are doing your homework. You need to know what that company values in a driver, how they try to set them up for success, and what they do to help you in the long term. That's why this podcast for me is so energizing, is because I get to do whatever I can to help set you up for success. That's really the basis of this whole concept. You're gonna see intertwined concepts of what it's like to be an old school trucker, what it was like when my grandfather was driving, my dad and uncles when they were driving, my driving experiences, coupled with all kinds of driving experiences from others. And it's all to give you a manifest of how to stay motivated, how to stay buckled in, how to overperform, and how to make sure you don't fall into the pits of that loneliness, stress, frustration, missing home, isolation on the mental side, because it is a mental game and you have to come prepared. It's war. You have to be prepared to fight off those things consistently. And the hardest part is a truck driver has so many obstacles in front of them, you have to be aware. I mean, like I said, eating food. How do you get quality food from the truck stops? They're not like they used to be, right? 15 years ago, the most truck stops had great restaurants. Now it's fast food. You have to be disciplined as a driver to overperform, and it's hard to do. You guys have to take into consideration where you're gonna get food and take it into your control. And so that's the things that a new driver has to be prepared for. Make sure you are on the same page with it's your wife or even just yourself. Make sure it's there. The reputation side now. I know I had touched on that last week, is about staying at a company, getting some tenure, trying to cement and plant your roots so you get set up for success. Because companies look quickly for these things, and this is really probably any job. I think you can do anything in life that you want to do if you come at it with the right mentality. Now, of course, there's some physical limitations and somebody's special abilities, but you get what I'm saying, right? Like, we look for quickly. Uh let's just focus on recruiting, right? Your attitude. What kind of attitude do you bring to the call? Are you quiet? Are you yes? You know, like what are you delivering? Like, we are a culture-based company that looks for that in drivers. We want to see what your attitude is because you are the face of the company to every single customer. Your communication, right? Like, how well do you communicate right out the gate? And that can be just those first few phone calls. Are you coming up with excuses on your previous job history? What's going on? Are you willing to learn? Are you excited to take on new challenges? You guys focus on that. You don't know everything yet, and that's okay. You don't have to. You don't have to act like you know everything. I know this industry has a lot of ego in it, and I've met more drivers than I care to say that tell me how they know everything or they've done everything, and and you know, and I'm not claiming that I know everything, but it just gets overwhelming when some you can't even have a quality conversation because they're telling you why it won't work, or you know, there's just so much. There's so much that goes into it. And so, you guys, nobody expects you to be perfect. We do expect you to be honest, we do expect you to put in effort, we do expect that communication, and we want you to be willing to learn. And there's nothing wrong with asking questions. I tell that all the time you have any questions, please call me, call anyone at this company. We will help you. And if they don't help you, that's a bigger problem, and I'll handle that. But we're here to help you and set you up for success. That's what our job is. And so you have to make sure you don't let your ego get in the way. Don't forget about your experience. Trucking is an experienced game. You have never driven in snow, you won't know how to drive in snow until you've done it. You have to understand that all the miles come from experience. The big money comes from experience, the opportunities come from experience. Now, often a new driver in the industry, I see this all the time, somebody has less than a year or even just over a year, not quite two years. They're still very new, they're still a rookie in this game, and they're over here telling us or telling every company that they want this and that and this and that. And you start to go, how can you how can you boast that you've never done it or you're not prepared or you're not willing to learn? It goes load by load, you guys. It's weather by weather, day by day, mistake by mistake, and mile by mile. All of that builds and builds and builds, and that takes time, but that's okay. That's okay to take time. And so the drivers who are typically winning this game long term are not the loudest. They're not usually bragging all the time about every single thing they've done. Oftentimes they're quiet and hidden, they're steady and they're being dependable and they're calm and they're coachable and they're consistent, and they show up, they're willing to learn, and they improve day after day. Those drivers will separate themselves. You will separate yourself if you follow through with the majority of those. I tell that to many drivers, and that's the funnest part. We have a heavy haul division that is very attractive to many new drivers. They ask, how do I get into it? Now, experience is important, but I talk about all of those things, and I tell them that this path to heavy haul accelerates when you do these things well, and we notice it very quickly. You stand out, you don't even have to be loud calling, doing any type of breaking. We see it. The drivers that perform well and they're dependable, like I said, steady and they're calm. All of that, you bubble right to the top. It's that easy. It's that easy. So, as a rookie, think about that. Are you setting yourself up? Are you putting the hard work in? Are you making sure that you are bubbling to the top? And so, once again, this is probably the biggest. I know drivers, I mean, we hire drivers all the time, and I know drivers are burned often at companies and they're challenged, and you know, maintenance is. I mean, I've seen it because I've been a part of it. I know how challenging it is for a driver, but please try to work with your company. It's important that you understand they want you to be successful. And if they don't, then yeah, abort, get out of there quickly. But it's hard to believe. I mean, this game is built on truck drivers, and if you don't appreciate them and you don't put in the effort, you just won't have a company. And so it's hard for me to fathom somebody that doesn't appreciate their drivers and expecting to have a trucking company. Truck drivers are the center of every single thing we do at Kiwi Brothers. They are what move America, they are what keep our company thriving, and it's because of you. So if you are looking for a company and you're unsure of what kind of company you want, look for that type of company that focuses on drivers, that loves drivers, and you should be able to pick it up right away. You can do some homework on your company and you'll find it quickly. And so, despite all the negativity online, sometimes this industry is a fantastic way to build a great life. There's a lot of opportunity. You get the freedom, the income, the growth, and experience. There's so much at stake. Take advantage of it. It's going to reward you. But at the end of the day, the CDL is just the beginning. Becoming a professional driver, that's out on the road. That's where it happens. And it happens one mile at a time. So keep focused, keep driving to do the best that you can do, and keep trucking personal. We'll see you guys next week. Bye-bye. Appreciate you tuning in. If you got value out of this, subscribe and send it to someone who takes pride in the job. We're not just moving freight, we're shaping the culture. Catch you on the next one.