Driver Jatt

“Competition doesn’t need to be toxic. There’s enough cake for all!”

There’s a network with an app that many logistics types are part of. It’s a cool network. Loads are advertised, folk quote on them, and over a number of metrics and pure luck, the job will be allocated to somebody. It’s a digital marketplace where we’re all technically competing for the same work.

So, there I was, threading through the Cotswolds, sulking about something or another. The kind of low-level grump where you argue with the satnav for suggesting a faster route.

My phone rang through my fancy Android Auto thing. It was a number I’d never come across before. My mind raced. Maybe I’ve won a new Xbox. Or a Tesla. Possibly a tax refund. Maybe it’s baddies!

Oooo, exciting!!!

It was another driver. He’d seen my vehicle tracking close by via the GPS signal on the network app. He was broken down and needed a jump start. He was asking, pretty desperately, if I could stop.

I didn’t want to stop at all. I couldn’t be bothered. Today was NOT a ‘help a stranger’ day. The reality set in: no Xbox, no Tesla, no tax man. Just a stranger asking for a favour. I was sulking more.

That’s when he said, “I’ll give you £40.” He sounded ready to cry.

The Detour

Considering I had 50 minutes to spare, a quick detour wouldn’t really put me behind. Fine. I found him on a quiet lane, bonnet up, looking defeated. I got to him, gave his van a jump start so he could crack on with his day. It took five minutes.

He immediately reached for his wallet, wanting to pay me the forty quid. I told him to keep it. To give it to charity or use it on a new battery. Then, I gave him a lecture. A proper one. About taking responsibility for his vehicle, about having proper breakdown membership, about preventative maintenance. It wasn’t a little suggestion. It was a full-on ‘take responsibility, you failed this time, the outcome could have been worse, think of your dependents, fix up’ type lecture.

The Realisation

He wasn’t new to the courier game. He’d just done things differently, maybe a bit more loosely. It would have been easy to scoff, to look down my nose, and drive off feeling superior. But I didn’t. Why? Because that’s what sh!t people do. And sometimes, folk just need a good talking to. They need someone to open their mind to methods and ideas that aren’t obvious but are blindingly simple.

Sure, on the app, he’s my competition. We might bid for the same Birmingham to Bristol run next week. But you know what? Helping him didn’t shrink my slice of the cake. It just made the whole scene a bit less miserable for everyone. He got moving, his customer got their delivery, and I got a lesson in perspective. Competition doesn’t need to be toxic. There’s enough cake for all. Sometimes, you even get to be the one who passes the plate.

Here’s some tanks I passed. Because after all that, you need to look at something simple and heavy.

#courier #travel #sameday #logistics

So, do you need a courier who will help a fellow courier on the basis that they receive a healthy dose of unwanted life/business/relationship advice? Me neither 🥺

Click on www.frigate-express.co.uk  and use the calculator to quote you.

If you have any questions???? Get in touch.