This series is how SEEM-Safe Efficient Ethical Moral became my personal virtue of Safe Professional Truck Driving. A virtue is something that you hold in very high regard and your behavior shows high moral standards. The word has Latin origin and the Greek meaning is “Moral Excellence”.
“I used to wonder why someone hadn’t done something about that. Then I realized that I was someone.” Unknown
So here’s what I did to make it a little more interesting.
I decided to take five excerpts from the story that explained my interpretation of Practical Wisdom as it relates to trucking. I also included some thoughts on experience, attitude, and balancing confidence with caution to make rational decisions. You could call it a bit of a short story of how “SEEM” came to be.
Enjoy the read.
The Truckerswheel Team
Let’s start off with a little bit of the philosophy behind it all.
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and scientist that lived from 384 to 322 BCE. There were no cars, trucks, or internal combustion engines in his day, instead he strolled around in sandals and a toga.
While he was focused on science and life teachings, he also laid down some great principles for professional driving in the process (Practical Wisdom.) So how is it that a man that lived over 2,300 years ago can help you to be a professional truck driver today?
In my Ice Road Trucking book, I share these principles with my readers. Were they translated word for word? No. Did I interpret a few things to serve my own purpose? Yes, but the basic fundamentals never change. It shouldn’t matter what tools you use, where they come from, or how you use them. If they lead to you becoming a better person, then you have honoured the teacher.
I never believed in the “my way, or the highway” style of teaching. I believe that we learn something from everyone to develop our own methods that work best for us. We’re all unique individuals after all. So these are the principles that worked for me and I hope they inspire you to to either use them, or develop your own methods. Consider this a free truck driving training lesson.
SEEM-Safe Efficient Ethical Moral. How I made professional driving a virtue
It also needs to be said that there’s no set criteria or test for being a professional truck driver. It’s the cumulative result of combining operational skills with moral and ethical principles of life. Professional driving should be considered a virtue. In order to do this, remember SEEM.
