Making Decisions
A professional truck driver always does something for the “Right” reasons. This is because one of the attributes of practical wisdom is having “Moral Intelligence”.
“Moral intelligence is the capacity to understand right from wrong; It means to have strong ethical convictions and to act on them so that one behaves in the right and honourable way.”
Dr. Michelle Borba
This is where much of the trucking industry drops the ball with truck driving safety. We fail to teach people all the reasons why we should be making the decisions we make behind the wheel.
So from my experience, Aristotle’s philosophy, and the observations of others, I put together four basic fundamentals to help ensure my conduct was that of a professional truck driver. I call it “SEEM”. (Safe. Efficient. Ethical and Moral.) A whole philosophy captured in four simple words.
Truck driving safety means protecting other users on the road. Slowing down on a gravel road to protect them from being showered with rocks is the right thing to do.
The case of Ingraham Trail is a good example of why you make the right decisions.
I mentioned driving slower to protect your equipment and stay safely on the road was safe and efficient. Alone, these two reasons may be selfish and self-serving which isn’t necessarily a negative thing. However, when your view is constrained to self, it can be limiting in your attention to the needs and interests of others.
Adding ethical and moral to your conduct is what makes you a professional. The ethical and moral reason for prudent driving was to respect other drivers and the local residents. This meant slowing down to avoid showering someone’s windshield with gravel and turning off a loud engine brake passing residences.
Now you’re doing the right thing, at the right time, for the right reasons. This is what Practical Wisdom is all about.
I started this chapter with a quote I’ve heard and seen a number of times in my life. I like it, but it’s also easily misunderstood and can sound like a Catch 22.
“Good judgement comes from experience, but experience comes from poor judgement.”
It doesn’t necessarily have to be your “poor judgement” where you gain the experience. Just make sure you aren’t the one suffering from someone else’s poor judgement in the process.
Remember that experience comes from what you’ve observed, encountered or undergone. It’s not just about learning from your own mistakes as this quote suggests. Defensive driving courses do this. You learn from the experience of others, but defensive driving courses still don’t make you a professional truck driver.
So as far as trucking goes, professional drivers always do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reasons. I’ll get into more of this later with the basic philosophy of practical wisdom, but for now, back to the Ingraham Trail.
The Ingraham Trail was pretty rough in places with what I called “suspension breakers”. Reckless driving could easily lead to busted air bags, broken springs, tire blowouts, or even ditched trucks. These bad experiences from poor judgement happened to both rookies, and aggressive experienced drivers.
Truck driving safety is all about making professional driving a virtue.
Unfortunately, an off-road rookie’s problems can easily come from trying to keep up to an aggressive leader on the ice roads. It’s easy to say they should know better, but that kind of undue pressure is difficult for a rookie to handle. There’s a lot of pressure put on ice road rookies trying to gain experience and prove their worth. The kind of experience you get from poor judgement (whether your own, or someone else’s) can easily end your career.
