2020 has not been an easy year, it brought a lot of new challenges and changes in the whole world. The global pandemic changed how things work and businesses had to adjust to the new rules that had to be implemented to keep everyone safe. The trucking industry, once again, stepped up to the plate and it was essential during the first months of the pandemic. When everything in the world had to be paused, the trucking industry kept going, delivering essential goods to hospitals, stores and homes. 2020 was a hard year for everyone, it was difficult trying to redirect the focus from the global pandemic, but we tried to keep you informed, to educate both the rookie and the seasoned truckers, and lastly to entertain and distract you, even just for a couple of minutes and we hope we succeeded.
We’ve said goodbye to 2020, and sent her off in hopes we all learned something, in knowing we kept each other safe and being committed to making 2021 a better, safer, more productive year.
In this article, we are going to do a retrospect of our 2020 and what we wrote about, and would love to hear what your favorite articles were.
Trucking events
When we talk about 2020, we can’t ignore the global pandemic, so the first article we want to mention is the one about all the trucking events, many of which had to be canceled or postponed, some that were moved into the online universe, and a few that were lucky enough to avoid cancellation. The list of the events is very long since there is no off-season for the trucking industry. These events are very important for both the companies and truckers, they are places where connections are made and partnerships built, where there is a big focus on education and presenting new technologies that improve the trucking industry every year. Employment chances are also often presented at many of these events, so for the benefit of everyone in the trucking industry, we are hoping 2021 will be a better and easier year for trucking events.
Pre-trip inspection
The pre-trip inspection was one of the first topics we talked about in 2020, and we kept talking about it in almost every article we wrote. In this article, we explain why it is so important and what it entails. The pre-trip inspection is required by law, it is an essential part of every trucker’s workday, and that is why we keep mentioning it. It is important to know your truck, to know what to look for when doing the pre-trip check and to know when there might be a problem with your truck that needs to be addressed before getting on the road, you should have your paperwork in order and always put safety first.
Owner operators
We are going to mention two articles here, one was about lowering your owner operator expenses and the other was a comparison between owner-operators and company drivers. First, we talked about all the expenses you face as an owner-operator and how to best manage and lower them. Saving on fuel and food expenses, hiring professional bookkeeping services, and how to best plan for business development. The second article was about the differences between being an owner-operator and a company driver, the pros and cons of each, and the risks that might come with the jobs.
Fun and hobbies
We don’t always talk about serious, technical stuff. On some occasions we talk about fun, hobbies, things that you can do on your downtime while on the road. Two things we wrote about are how to have fun on the road and what are some hobbies truckers have. Being a trucker can be very stressful, it can be very hard for both the body and the mind, that is why it is important to occasionally do some exercises, to loosen up, have fun, sing, watch a movie, listen to a podcast or read a book. Take care of yourself in every way possible, to stay healthy and safe.
Podcasts and apps
After mentioning fun and hobbies we have to reflect on our lists of fun podcasts that we recommended and the best trucker apps of 2020. The podcast lists could go on forever, there are so many different types and topics, it is just a matter of what interests you, if you want to listen to trucker specific podcasts, or you’re interested in history or science, there is something for everyone. There are infinite resources of podcasts online, and new ones are being made every day. The apps we wrote about are trucking industry related. They are useful for companies and truck drivers. We chose the most popular and useful ones and we tried to explain what each of them does, how they are used and how much they cost.
We tried to cover a lot of interesting topics that would be useful and fun. When there was a holiday we talked about ideas on how to get through them while on the road, like in this article about the Memorial Day Weekend and the one about Halloween. We talked about safety, common mistakes, we gave you a lot of tips on different topics, and essentials to take on the road. These are the articles about all these topics and more: accident prevention tips, summer safety tips, roadside inspections and the most common rookie mistakes. Top traits of a good truck driver, hours of service, loading dock etiquette, trucking essentials to take on the road and we compared manual vs automatic trucks. Our goal was to keep you informed, to educate, to entertain, and to remind you every time that safety and your health are the most important things.
We hope that 2021 will bring better things, brighter days and a safer world.