Recruiting and managing drivers for our trucking company has become something of a study in human psychology. I’ve gotten rather adept at classifying drivers into one of four categories during their first week on the road. With regard to the job at hand, they are one of the following:

Drivers who are able and willing are the easiest, most pleasurable people to work with. Unable and willing people tend to be successful as well, provided we can overcome whatever makes them unable to do the job. Sometimes it’s a mental or physical health issue that can be addressed. Other times it has to do with issues of licensing or credentials. If you are willing but believe yourself unable to drive, it’s well worth opening yourself up to the possibilities that exist for you. Today though, I want to talk about the able and unwilling cohort of drivers.

Able but not willing to succeed

The able but not willing drivers are the most frustrating people sitting in our trucks. They are too smart by half and have all the answers. Because of this disposition, they’re unwilling to learn or discipline themselves to work hard. They tend to be quick to anger and are enraged by authority figures. Oftentimes their life has been a series of failures, so they come to us with a chip on their shoulder. Everyone else has let them down, so who can blame them for thinking we will be the same?

When I interact with the able but unwilling driver, I’m reminded of the story of Jesus healing a paralyzed man at the Pool of Bethesda. When Jesus meets the man, he asks him, “Do you want to be made well?” The man tells Jesus he has no one to put him into the healing waters of the pool. Jesus tells him to rise up and walk. And so the man does, and he is healed.

This is the question you must ask yourself: “Do I want to be helped?” If you do, if you are willing to work hard and learn the way we run expedite freight, then you can be very successful in this business. If you do not want to be helped, are unwilling to learn, and are waiting for your next handout, then you have no hope of success.

Have you been able and unwilling? Do you want to be helped?