It's Really Hot in Las Vegas

This week I'm in Las Vegas for the Great West Truck Show. We're exhibiting here as part of Internet Truckstop's ITS University & Marketplace, and I'm also leading a seminar on cash flow management for owner-operators. As part of that seminar, I'm going to be asking the attendees for their tips and tricks - things they've come across that help them increase their revenue and cut their expenses. Since I'm doing the seminar each day of the show and no one is going to attend all three days, I'm going to compile those tips and email them to everyone who attends.

I'm also going to post them here as well. Next week will be crazy with the holiday, but I'm going to try and get the tips up early in the week, so if you check back on Wednesday you should see them.

In the meantime, it really is hot down here. But now I understand what people mean when they say "dry heat" - the lack of humidity really does make a difference. Of course, I love the hot weather so I'm pretty much in heaven here!

Free Lunch Revisited

A little while ago I wrote about a friend of mine that started a new job and wasn't taken out for lunch on the first day. The "first day lunch" is pretty much a tradition in the tech industry and by skipping it, this company sent a bad message to new hires.

At the time, I predicted that my friend would hang around that place for a few months until something better came along, then get out. 

I was right. Just 5 months into the job, my friend quit. The company has lots of excuses for why people are leaving and they're telling lots of good stories to the remaining employees, but the simple fact is that they missed out on the small but important things that are fundamental to building a strong workforce.

Adding insult to injury, when my friend gave his notice, the president said "we should go out for lunch, just you and I".

I doubt my friend will take them up on it.

Looking Into The Future - Part II

There's a lot talk about the future of long haul and how younger generations won't be interested in that kind of work. The thinking seems to be that Gen Y (and the kids coming after them) need to be connected to their communities, aren't interested in being separated from their lives for long periods, see work as something that happens around their lives not vice versa, and various similar things.

All of those assessments of younger generations are correct, but I don't think that means long haul is doomed. Tying the "connectedness" of Gen Y to the demise of long haul only works if you use a traditional, narrow definition of "connected".

Gen Y needs to be connected to their friends and peers, but that connection doesn't necessarily have to be face-to-face. That connection can happen just as easily online.

I wrote in a previous post that in 10 years the Internet will be like electricity is today - available everywhere and essentially free. Look at where laptops, smart phones, and other technology are heading and think about what kind of communication tools will be available to drivers 10 years from now. They'll not only have fulltime Internet access for their entire trip - wherever they're headed - but they'll likely have video-conferencing, virtual socializing and online representations of their entire social lives as well.

If any of you have tried Second Life, you've seen the future for this generation. More Second Life type environments will pop up, letting tomorrow's drivers socialize with their friends online from anywhere in North America. They won't need to be there in person. 

And that's just the stuff that's on the market today. Who knows what new, supercool thing is going to be invented 3 years from now that will change the game even further.

I certainly don't think long haul is going to suffer. In fact, it may be healthier in the future than it is now.