Hub911 - Emergency Services Information for all First Responders; Fire, EMS, LEO
LIKE us ->
  • Home
    • Free Medical Information Card
    • Contact Us
  • EMS
    • EMS Dept. Links
    • EMS Sponsors
    • EMS Classified Ads
    • EMS Events
    • EMS Forum
  • Fire & Rescue
    • Fire & Rescue Dept. Links
    • Fire & Rescue Sponsors
    • Fire & Rescue Classified Ads
    • Fire & Rescue Events
    • Fire & Rescue Forum
    • SOS Supply
  • Law Enforcement
    • Law Enforcement Dept. Links
    • Law Enforcement Sponsors
    • Law Enforcement Classified Ads
    • Law Enforcement Events
    • Law Enforcement Forums
  • Towing & Utilities
    • Tow Equip
    • Towing Company Links
    • Towing Company Sponsors
    • Towing Classified Ads
    • Towing Events
    • Towing & Utilities Forums
  • More
    • Dispatch
    • Explosives
    • HazMat
    • Lifeboat
    • Search & Rescue
    • U.S. Military >
      • Army
      • Navy
      • Air Force
      • Marines
      • Coast Guard
      • National Guard
      • Air National Guard
  • Forums
    • EMS Forums
    • Fire & Rescue Forums
    • Law Enforcement Forums
    • Towing & Utilities Forums
  • Info
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising >
      • Rate Page
      • Classified Ads
      • Links
      • Sponsorship
    • Resources
    • Disclaimer
    • State Listings
    • Site Map
  • Design
    • Website Design
    • SEO
    • Social Media Marketing
    • Hosting
    • Branding
    • Graphic Design
    • Printing
    • Signs and Banners
  • Blogs
    • Health Blog >
      • Mold Test Sale
    • Hub911 Blog
    • EMS Blog on Hub911
    • Fire Blog on Hub911
    • LEO Blog on Hub911
    • Towing Blog on Hub911 >
      • Positive Spin on Covid-19
      • COVID-19 and Isolationalism
    • PSA Blog
    • Hub911 Products Blog
    • Contests
    • Hub911 Recipies
  • Store
    • Service Animal Memorials
    • Contests
  • Print ID card
  • Parts Department Managment
  • New Page
  • New Page

Pride in Your Ride by Nick Kemper

12/14/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
At a customer's facility today, looking at a wrecked tow truck, and a gaze at the truck's interior reminded me of why I got out of managing tow truck drivers.  You would think that if you spend 8-18 hours a day in your workspace, you would want that workspace to look, feel, and smell as good as possible.  Some drivers take great pride in their assigned truck, keeping the outside and inside clean and professional-looking.  Some drivers... don't.  A good way to know how someone is going to take care of your equipment is to take a look at their personal vehicle.  Doing that sometimes made me cry.

At one point in my managing days, I resorted to monthly truck inspections.  At first, I scheduled them and told the driver when I was going to do the inspection.  This worked most of the time.  For at least one day every month, that truck was in good shape.  After several months, I made the inspections surprise inspections.  Wow, you've never heard such grumbling.  Inspection scores were figured into performance evaluations, so they were sensitive to this new concept of work performance actually having a direct effect on their compensation.  Crazy idea, I know.


 There was a good deal of competition between drivers to see who could get the highest score, or even a perfect score.  I think I only gave out one perfect score during the program, which lasted a year or so.  It was hard to sustain, doing 14 surprise inspections per month, especially in winter. 

My goal with tow truck cleanliness was not a perfect score on a surprise inspection, but just a general professional look and smell, and a tidiness, every day.  If you wouldn't want your mom to get in that truck, then that was a problem, because a lot of customers are someone's mom.  I don’t need to do the white-glove test.  I don’t need to feel Armor-All on the seat.  Those hard-to-reach spots between the bed and the cab don’t need to be polished, but every once in awhile you have to finish off an old wash mitt by reaching in there to wipe away the outer layer of grime.


 You have to appreciate the scars and marks that accumulate on a piece of equipment that’s been in circulation a long time.  I’m not talking about broken windshields or crushed fenders, but there really shouldn’t be new paint on your wheellift.  The bed and butt-plate should have a few scratches.  What you want are trucks that work, in more than one sense of the word.  And a truck like that deserves respect.  It can get dirty, muddy, whatever.  But when the day is done, it needs a little love.

 One of the tricky parts of getting your drivers to take care of their equipment is the simple dichotomy that applies to all aspects of your business.  They don’t own the truck. You do.  They don’t own the office space they’re working in, or the dollar passing through their hands from your customer to you.  If they don’t own it, they won’t care as much about it as you do.  Plain and simple.  The best thing you can do, the only thing you can do… is to put it in their interest.  What’s the definition of “put it in their interest?”  Could be a lot of things:  incentives, intimidation, freedom.  That’s your job:  to figure out what interests each one of your employees.  That’s one reason why no one said it would be easy.  And accept that your employee will not care as much as your truck, your money, your business as you do.  Why should they?


0 Comments

    Hub911.com

    Please tell us your story!

    Archives

    March 2020
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012

    Categories

    All
    2013
    911
    9/11
    Accident
    Amanda
    Anger In The Work Place
    Animals
    April Fools Day
    Auto Trans
    Bathroom
    Beer
    Being Chased By Car
    Briefcase
    Broken Wrecker
    Ca
    Cab Mess
    Cars
    Catch 20
    Catch 21
    Catch 22
    Changing Tire
    Chasing Car
    Claw
    Close Calls
    Clown Car Towing
    Commission
    Crash
    Datsun
    Dirty Shirt
    Dispatch
    Driving
    Drug Screen
    Drug Test
    Drunk Driving
    Eagle
    Emergency
    Emergency Disneyland
    Emergency Service Information
    Emergency Services
    Emergency Services Info
    Emergency Services Information
    Employee Drug Test
    Employees
    Employees Caring
    Employee Turnover
    Equipment
    Escape
    Fall Back
    Federal Building
    Finding Something Lost
    Fixing Your Truck
    Friends
    Frustration
    Funny Tow Story
    Gatecrasher
    Handle Angry Employees
    Harley
    Hate My Job
    Hib911.com
    Hiring Ems
    Hiring In The Towing Industry
    Hiring Nightmares
    Hiring Warm Bodies
    Hook And Book
    How To Motivate
    Http://www.essentialnow.com
    Http://www.hub911.com
    Hub911
    Hub 911
    Hub911.com
    Hub911.com
    Humor
    Impaired Driving
    Impound
    Impound Lot
    Info
    Information
    It's The Law
    Jobs Are Like Boats
    Kids
    Late
    Law
    Lazy Co-worker
    Lonely Road
    Lot
    Love Hate Relationship With Job
    Love My Job
    Luck
    Mad Customers
    Mad Man
    Management Difficult Employee
    Messy Truck
    Mi
    Motorcycle
    Municipal Contracts
    N
    Newsletter
    New Years Eve
    Nick Kemper
    Night
    Nissan
    Not Short
    Offended By Drug Test
    Oklahoma City Bombing
    Olds
    Painted Truck
    Paint Job
    Parking Violation
    Pets
    Police
    Police Tow
    Priceless
    Pride In Your Ride
    Professional Dress
    Respect Tow Truck Operators
    Restuarant Parking
    Road Party
    Rtto
    Runaway Car
    Sheriff
    Sherry Wood
    Shortcut
    Slow Down Move Over
    Spilling Pop
    Spring Forward
    Stolen
    Subaru
    Tactic To Cope With Anger
    The Hub
    Tickets
    Time Change
    Tire Friction
    Tires And Suspension
    Tow-agencies
    Tow Call
    Tow-company-managers
    Tow Crash
    Towing
    Towing And Equipment
    Towing Complaints
    Towing Mishap
    Towing Wrecker
    Towpartnow
    Tow Part Now
    Towpartsnow
    Tow Parts Now
    Towpartsnow.com
    TowPartsNow.com
    Tow Show
    Tow Truck
    Tow Truck Mess
    Train
    Trains
    Trick Or Treat
    Tricks Crossrails
    Trucks
    Uniform Compliance
    Vacation
    Vacationers
    Vehicle Owner
    Work
    Wreck
    Wrecker
    Wreckers

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.