Merry Christmas

Today I want to take a second to wish everyone reading this a Merry Christmas.  

Christmas is a special time of year, where I especially take more time to be with family and enjoy a slightly slower season.

This the season for giving thanks to our creator for the miracle of his son Jesus’s birth.  

Sometimes we get so caught up in giving and receiving presents, food, and of course work that we forget to pause and give God thanks for all the blessings he has given us.  

You see a little over two thousand years ago the Virgin Mary conceived a son from the holy spirit.  Her husband-to-be was going to divorce her quietly until one day an angel of the Lord came to him and told him that the son to be born was from God and he was to name him Jesus.

Jesus came into the world to bring peace and gather his “father flocks”.  He came with a mission and purpose.  

When was the last time that you found your mission or purpose?  Do you know what they are?  Have they ever changed?

Personally, my mission is to be a loyal servant to God, a great father, a loving husband, and a trustworthy person in business and personal life.  But before I was married being a loving husband wasn’t part of my mission.  Likewise being, a great father didn’t really have much of a rating either.  

Don’t worry if your mission changes.  All of our missions change as we move into different seasons of life.  

Today I really want to encourage everyone to slow down and look around you.  Enjoy the season of life that you are currently in.  Give thanks to God for not only creating you but also for giving you the blessing that you have received.  

Take a little more time and look to see how you could improve the lives of those around you.  Maybe it’s by volunteering, or giving a helping hand, or stopping to help change a flat tire on the side of the road.  When you feel moved, get up and go for it.  

From my family to yours.

Merry Christmas!

My God Bless your life and everything and everyone in it. 

Give Memories Not Things

When my wife and I had our first son Christmas started getting more extravagant.  

At first, it was a ton of movies that our family would enjoy. Then it turned into a TON of toys that our kids would enjoy. 

A couple of years ago we looked around our house and realized that it was stuffed to brim with stuff. Our basement was full, our garage was full, our storage sheds were full, even our attic was full.

It was then that we decided that our kids no longer needed stuff and we started giving them experiences instead. 

Here's what worked for us. First, we started traveling as a family more.  We devoted at least 2 full weeks a year to make memories. 

Of course, to begin with, all the amusement parks were on the kid’s lists to go to. And we did visit a few. In fact, after we found the Universal Studios was our favorite we bought season tickets one year. (We found a screaming deal the annual passes cost less than a typical day at the park)  we mainly focused on spending time together without making real plans. 

Our favorite trip to date was a week in a beach house just north of San Diego.  

We spent a full 6 days on pretty much a private beach for less than $200 a night. We literally made no plans. And ended up making some of the best memories ever. We went to eat at our favorite burger place in Ocean Beach, Hoodads.  We got in the ocean several times a day, took surfing lessons, chilled, played games, and ate home-cooked meals most of the trip. 

It was amazing.

This year we talked to the kids to see if they wanted stuff for Christmas or more family time. They all said they'd like a few small things (less than $20 each) but really wanted to keep making memories. 

We wouldn't trade our memories for all the stuff in the world. 

You see we realized that our kids would be out of the house into time at all and we were really being selfish by making memories.  Our kids loved making those memories though and I can't wait to see memories we make next. 

Maybe Costa Rica, Alaska, Hawaii, Florida Keys, New York City, who knows??  The possibilities are endless. 

The FLEET side of DOT compliance

We have been getting a ton of questions around the fleet side of DOT compliance.

Let’s start with all the companies that send you letters saying your out of compliance and in danger of being fined $10,000 a day.

Have you ever gotten one of those letters?

We feel that this should be illegal, and we know that it is immoral to send those letters out.

Unless the letter is from the FMCSA and has their symbol on it, don’t worry about it.  It’s just a “schistery” company that is trying to scare you into giving them your business.

MCS 150 

Your MCS-150 needs to be updated every 2 years.  Your DOT number tells you everything you need to know about when it has to be updated.  US DOT 1234567 The last number in your DOT number tells you when it needs to be updated. For instance, 1 means January, 2 -February, 3 – March, 4 – April, 5 – May, 6 – June, 7 – July, 8 – August, 9 – September, 0 – October.

The second to the last number of your DOT number explains if you update on odd or even years.  US DOT 1234567.  If it is an even number then you need to update your MCS 150 on even years. If it is an odd number then you would update it on odd years.

If your USDOT number is 1234567, then your MCS 150 would need to be completed by June of even years. 

Note that you can update your MCS 150 as often as needed. But it must be done at least once every 24 months.  

Make sure that you report accurately when you update anything for the DOT.  

If you have your DOT Pin number you can update your MCS-150 free here website, It’s fairly simple, but if you would like any assistance please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team.

UCR (Unified Carrier Registration)

The UCR is only for commercial vehicles that operate in interstate commerce.  

Really it’s just another tax for Interstate CMV’s.  

A CMV is defined by the federal government as any vehicle that has a GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) over 10,000lbs. Is used in interstate commerce. If you are not registered with the UCR and are operating in interstate commerce. Then you could get detained at a Port of Entry (POE).

The UCR is extremely easy to complete. If your MCS-150 is up to date then the system can pull those numbers directly from FMCSA.  

Most years the UCR is required to be completed by December 31st.  It depends on the year when it opens.  If the government is struggling to define the costs I have seen it open as late as March. If they have the costs determined it has opened as early as September.

If you have both Intrastate and interstate vehicles you can use exemptions when filing. And it might lower the cost of your UCR.  Make sure that you are reporting accurately and not fabricating your numbers to get a lower cost.

Visit their website

IFTA (International Fuel Tax Agreement)

IFTA is the easiest way to file and pay fuel taxes for each state you drive in.  Unlike UCR, IFTA is only needed for vehicles with a GVWR over 26,000lbs that are crossing state lines.  

This renews every year on January 1st and is fairly cheap to get the license and decals for your company.  Most decals are under $5 and the licenses are usually included with the decal fee.  

A few things that you need to remember for IFTA is that you must track your fuel purchases and miles driven in each state for every truck that has IFTA.  You will also need to track which decals are placed on which trucks.  Both of these are as simple as keeping a spreadsheet and your fuel receipts.

If you would like an example spreadsheet click here and we’ll send you directly to your email.  

All companies that utilize IFTA do not need to buy fuel permits for each state they travel in.  It saves you a ton of time and in the long run $$ if you are crossing state lines regularly. If you don't have IFTA then you would need individual fuel permits.

Note that you must report every quarter your fuel purchased, where it was purchased, & the miles you drove in each state.  This is reported to the state where your IFTA is purchased originally. That should be the state where your vehicles are registered.

There are a few states that require more than IFTA and you need to know about them too.  They are New York, Kentucky, New Mexico.  Each of those states requires an additional annual permit and also requires that you file with them quartile.

 

New York State imposes a highway use tax (HUT) on motor carriers operating certain motor vehicles on New York State public highways (excluding toll-paid portions of the New York State Thruway). The tax rate is based on the weight of the motor vehicle and the method that you choose to report.  NY HUT 

Kentucky KYU is a tax license issued for all carriers traveling on Kentucky roadways. With a combined license weight greater than 59,999 pounds. KY WD 

New Mexico imposes a weight-distance tax on owners, operators, and registrants of intrastate and interstate commercial vehicles with a declared gross vehicle weight in excess of 26,000 pounds. This tax is based on vehicle weight and miles traveled on New Mexico roads. Companies must register and annually for New Mexico.  NM WD

 

IRP (International Registry Plan)

The IRP takes place of your registration for CMV’s that have a GVWR or GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating) of over 26,000lbs.  This is extremely useful when you are crossing state lines regularly.  

If you don’t have IRP on your CDL vehicles then you have to get a “trip” permit every time you travel in any state other than the state your vehicle is registered in.  

Let’s say that your truck is registered in Colorado but not registered as IRP.  You haul it to Arizona for a job.  You would need to get a temporary registration to operate that vehicle legally while you are not in Colorado.  

If you had IRP on that truck then you would no longer need the temp registration for the other state.  

There are several things you should know about IRP.  One is that it is good for one year from the date you purchase it.  You will also need to know the miles driven in each state. So you can file those when you renew after the first year.  

Each truck will get their own cab card, that takes place of the registration for that vehicle. That document needs to be kept in the vehicle. 

2290 (Heavy Use Tax)

The heavy use tax is required to be filed annually for every vehicle that is registered gross weight over 55,000lbs.  2290 must be filed and the taxes due paid to the IRS by no later than July 31st.  

There are several factors to this tax.  One is what your vehicles are registered at.  The second is how many miles they have driven annually. 

You can get the 2290 form here.  

Hopefully, this helps you to know when everything is due and what exactly is needed to help keep your fleet in compliance. You can continue to operate your CMV’s and move your company forward. 

Until next time, stay safe and keep the rubber side down.

Family, Spending time where it matters

If you have been following my social media you have probably seen that I have been spending more time with my family and we have been doing quite a bit of traveling.  

We have been driving, mainly because it costs a ton to fly 6 people, but also because we love spending time together in the car seeing all of God’s creation.  

It seemed that we woke up one day and our oldest son was 14!  Then we said hey we only have 4 more years until he (most likely) moves out and on with his life.  We want to make the most of this time.  

So we made the decision to stop buying junk and start investing more in making memories.

One thing we did is sit down with all the kids and ask them where they wanted to go and what they wanted to do. 

We got all kinds of answers!

Some were out of this world, while others made our hearts glow.  Our daughter said that she wanted to learn more about fixing things.  One son said he wanted to spend more time as a family.  Of course one wanted to do more hunting (mostly in exotic places). 

All of this made us think.

Not one of them asked for more stuff!  They didn’t want us to buy items that they could play with.  They wanted us to give them experiences.  That’s the same thing we wanted.  Less stuff and more memories.

Have you ever sat down with your kids and had them tell you what they really want?  Not asked them what they want for Christmas or their birthday but asked them what they want to do, or where they want to go, or even what they want to experience.  

You see we have trained our children across the world that when we ask them what they want they automatically ask for things, not experiences.   Because whether you believe it or not, we have trained them to ask for things.  You know why?  It’s because things are easier to give than an experience is.  It takes way less time to go on Amazon and buy a dollhouse than it does to build one with/for your daughter.  

I want you to try something today, go home, and talk to your family about the experiences you remember as a child.  Fishing with your grandpa, working on a truck with your dad, decorating cakes with your mom, riding in the tractor with your other grandpa, or maybe baking bread with your grandma.  While you are talking about your memories watch your kids and see what makes them light up.  

I also want you to think back and try to remember the “things” you got that excited you the most.  Can you remember any of them?  Do you still have any of them?  I do.  One Christmas I got a few remote control toys.  They brought me a lot of joy.  But now when they bring even more joy when I see my kids playing with them!  You see I thought that the toy brought me joy, but the truth is that it was the experience of playing with the toy and now watching my kids play with the same toys that bring me true happiness.

It was NEVER the items in my life that brought me joy, it was the experience that I remember.  

With all of that being said, what can you do to bring more experiences to your family?  How can you “show up” for your kids in a way that they will remember.  

I guarantee that the family trip to San Diego and eating at your favorite hamburger place in Ocean Beach (Hodads), will bring more happiness and make a lasting impression way more than getting them a new phone every year! 

Get out there and make some GREAT memories with your family while you still have time!

As for me, you better keep watching my Facebook and Instagram see where life takes us over the next few years!

Making the face of your business

Every business has a mascot or face of the business.  Think about it Chetos has Chester the Cheta, Lucky charms have Lucky the Leprechaun, Charmin as the bears, Eclipse has Dan Greer lol.  

All the great companies have mascots or faces of their businesses.  Today we want to talk a little about how to create the face of your business and what you should look for.

One of the biggest things that you need to remember as you move forward in any business is that people don’t buy from a company, they buy from a person.  

When you buy a service from Eclipse DOT really your not buying because it is from Eclipse, you are buying because you meet me and got to know me (maybe you felt a little sorry for me, just kidding) most likely you liked some of my qualities and knew that I cared about your companies success. 

How do we create a favorable character or face of the company?  First, we need to determine our perfect customer.  After we figure that out then we can make the perfect face for our company.  

Let’s say that you are focused on serving women from the ages of 25-45.  Do you think that a 60-year-old man would be the right face?  Probably not.  Let’s say that you are focused on the IT industry, do you think that a HUGE construction worker in bluejeans, hard had, and wearing gloves is the right face? Probably not.  

Even though my examples are pretty unrealistic I’ve seen it happen before.  

What if you work with multiple demographics how do you make the face for your company then?  It’s simple you pick the best qualities from all sides and use those to create the mascot.  

What does the face of your company need to have?  

Well, there are a few things.  Let’s start with the fact that they must be likable and be able to relate to your potential clients.  Or your potential clients need to be able to relate to them.  

One way you can do this is by thinning back to where you were when you first started, many of your potential clients are there now and they really want to be able to relate to who they work with.  What struggles did you go through? What challenges did you face?  Tell stories that make the face your potential clients can relate to.  

Every story needs to have a few key parts as well.  Those parts include the beginning, the fall, and the rise.  

The beginning is where your potential clients are right now, where you started at.  The fall is what you experienced that caused you to take action. And the rise is where you found the answer. What you selling now.

If you selling a new makeup for people with extremely sensitive skin, you could tell the story about how you found that makeup or why you created it.  Also, tell the success you had once you found it.  

A good example would be my skin would break out constantly when I used to use X brand.  I was at work one day when a coworker asked me the simple question if I washed my face often?  Shortly after that, I started looking for a new coverup.  I tried so many different brands but none of them seemed to work.  So I started doing some research and found that every coverup I used had this simple ingredient and it was caused by my skin to breakout.  I started creating my own coverup after trying and failing multiple times I finally got the mixture perfect. I dint immediately start selling my new discovery though.  It took me years to finally discover that other people suffered from the same thing I did.  Skipping forward to now we have helped over x number of people feel great about their skin.

Do you see how the story gives the face of the business a personality that potential customers can fall in love with?  

The key is to figure out who your potential customers are and make the face of your business mirror that.

Hopefully, this helps.

Until next time.

Dan

I wish someone would have told me this before I started a business

Just over a year ago, I quit my full-time job with great pay and amazing benefits to start a business helping companies with their DOT and safety needs.  When we stepped out on our own we had ONE customer and the hope of a few more.  

What were we thinking??  

Well, we made it the first year and are excited to share some of the keys to success that we learned.

One of the hardest lessons that I learned from our first year in business is that it’s not about getting every client it’s about getting the right clients.  Not every company in the industry is the right client.  

Think about it, if you have 2 clients and one is constantly calling, complaining, not paying their bill. Are they really a client you want?  They are paying about 1/100 of your wages but are using 1/10 of your time.  

One way we make sure we get the right clients now is by conducting a phone or in-person “interview” with every potential new client.  We disguise it as a free consultation but the truth is that this time allows us to ensure that we will be a good fit for them and them for us.  

The second tip is to schedule a time for what is really important to you.  If you want more time with your family, put it in your calendar. I learned that my calendar is my best friend.  I add an appointment to it and it reminds me to go do it.  

Some of the things that I put in my calendar are: Workout, devotional time, help my kids with “X”, date night, payment due.  You get the point.  

Third, don’t try too hard to get new clients.  They will come at the right time.

All too often we tried too hard to close potential new clients.  Making trips to see potential new clients and coming home with one or 2 new customers instead of a lot more.

I have spent days, weeks, even months worrying over if a potential new client will actually sign on with us.  What good has that done me?

That’s right no good at all.  It actually distracted me and we probably lost clients in the long run because I didn’t give them the attention they needed.  

I remember sending out estimates, following up and the potential new clients ghosted me.  All I could think about was, what did I do wrong? Was the price too high? Did I say something wrong?  The truth is I might have made a mistake, but most of the time it just took time for the potential customers to pull the trigger.

Our fourth tip is to give 10x more with no expectation of getting new clients.  We host FREE or low-cost training to get our name and reputation established in the community.  Once that reputation was established we had people sharing our contact info with others.  We started getting so many calls that started off, “Hey “X” told me you were the guy that had the answers for anything DOT, here’s the question we have.”  

We had two options.  The first was to bill them for our time and answering their questions.  The second was to answer their questions and give them everything they need to be successful. 

We always chose the second.  I’ve been told that I give too much away.  But guess what about 90% of the people that I helped came back and signed an annual contract with us and we got over 10x the income from their contract as we would have if we charged for answering their questions.  It also helped because they would share our name with anyone who had questions and they would come to us.  

Our last tip is that you don’t have to have a completely unique product, but you do need to have a great reason for your potential clients to come to you.  Our business helps companies maintain compliance with Federal Regulations.  All of our clients could get all of the required documents free online.  But it would take them numerous hours to find the forms and study the material.  

We offer a service that allows them to have more time in their day, every day.  We come in, take over their DOT, if they want, and they can focus on what’s really important.  You see we dive them time back into their day.  

That’s what we sell, time.  

We save our clients time.  They know that when they have an issue it’s a call, text, or email away from an answer that they can trust. 

Surround yourself with others that are more successful than you are.  You might be asking, I live in rural America, it’s really hard to find people that I really look up to that have time.  I get it, we live in rural Colorado the closest town is 30 min away.  

Here’s what we did.  We started investing in ourselves.  We bought into training and live meetings.  Then COVID hit and all of those events were canceled or turned into virtual.  It’s tough to surround yourself when almost all events are canceled.  

I surrounded by listening to books, podcasts, Facebook lives, by joining inner circles of great leaders and making time for their weekly events.  

I know that’s not the same as meeting people in person but hey it worked. It allowed me to push myself to the next level without much effort.  

There are so many things that we could share….

These are just a few of the key items that we found really helped us.  

Measuring results as a leader can be tough.

Measuring results as a leader can be tough. Here are a few of the keys that I use.

First I look at the morale of the employees. If morale is low it means that I need to step up my game and figure out how to improve it.

As a leader, another great thing that I look at is how close the people in the group are. If they are close to one another, if they share, if they are friends, and talk about more than just work. I've done a great job as a leader making them feel comfortable around each other. 

I also look at how much they're working and what their workload is. Now there's a major difference between knowing if their workload is too much and they can accomplish every task or if they can’t accomplish the task because they don't have the drive. 

I evaluate that and I keep in mind that each person is unique. Each person has different qualities. 

When was the last time I rewarded them? I reward people for a job well done.  

I like to use a positive reinforcement system. 

What that means is that when somebody does something wrong it's always handled in private and it's never that big of a deal. I coach them through it & help them learn how to get better.  We talk about tips and strategies. No voices are ever raised, no threats are made like this happens again you lose your job. 

Instead, I choose to reward the positive things that happen. When a driver goes through an inspection and receives “no violations” I give them a reward. When somebody completes a project ahead of schedule they are rewarded. When somebody goes above and beyond to make sure that their teammates are successful they are rewarded.

You see as the leader your results are everybody else around you.

First I look at the morale of the employees. If morale is low it means that I need to step up my game and figure out how to improve it.

As a leader, another great thing that I look at is how close the people in the group are. If they are close to one another, if they share, if they are friends, and talk about more than just work. I've done a great job as a leader making them feel comfortable around each other. 

I also look at how much they're working and what their workload is. Now there's a major difference between knowing if their workload is too much and they can accomplish every task or if they can’t accomplish the task because they don't have the drive. 

I evaluate that and I keep in mind that each person is unique. Each person has different qualities. 

When was the last time I rewarded them? I reward people for a job well done.  

I like to use a positive reinforcement system. 

What that means is that when somebody does something wrong it's always handled in private and it's never that big of a deal. I coach them through it & help them learn how to get better.  We talk about tips and strategies. No voices are ever raised, no threats are made like this happens again you lose your job. 

Instead, I choose to reward the positive things that happen. When a driver goes through an inspection and receives “no violations” I give them a reward. Then somebody completes a project ahead of schedule they are rewarded. If somebody goes above and beyond to make sure that their teammates are successful they are rewarded.

You see as the leader your results are everybody else around you.

Leading with perseverance.

 Leading with perseverance.

Webster's Dictionary defines perseverance as “persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.”  

That sounds like a typical day in business for me.  

Nothing ever seems to go right everything is delayed and well guess what we just keep going because it has to get done.  

What is perseverance to me?

Perseverance is sticking with something until you get it finished no matter how long it takes no matter how hard it is no matter what obstacles you run into.  It is planted a crop, weeding out all the weeds watching it grow watering it continually then harvesting beautiful crops at the end.  

Perseverance is not giving up when times get hard. It's having that stick-to-itiveness that pushes you to the finish line.

One of my favorite quotes about perseverance comes from Thomas Edison's.  Edison said,  "I haven't failed -- I've just found 10,000 that won't work."

Talk about perseverance, that's a lot of perseverance.  

As a leader, we have to have it. What happens if we give up in the middle of a project? 

Before long everyone on the team starts giving up in the middle of their projects,  and before we know it we never even start the projects because we're scared to fail.

Having perseverance when you're in a leadership position is important. We've all known leaders who don't have perseverance, maybe they weren't really leaders they were just people in management positions.

Honestly in my opinion perseverance is what makes or breaks a business. It is what helps a small business owner transition into a top 500 company. The ability to never give up.

Throughout the bible, it is discussed at length. 

Let's take the story of Joseph.  His brothers sold him into slavery and he was bought by Potiphar.  He stayed strong and rose among all the slaves to be put in charge of his entire estate.  Then when he wouldn't keep with Potiphar's wife after she attempted to seduce him multiple times. She had him thrown into prison. 

Still, he persevered.  Within a short time, he rose to be in charge of the prison just under the guards.  Then he interpreted several dreams for people who were released. But they forgot to tell Pharaoh about his abilities. 

Joseph continued to preserve.  Then one day when the time was right he was called to interpret one of Pharaoh's dreams. Right after he finished the interpretation Pharaoh placed Joseph as the second over the entire Kingdom.  the only one above him was Pharaoh himself. 

The point that I'm making is that if joseph would not have perseverance, he would have never succeeded.  He was knocked down several times, and yet he still stayed strong.  

If Joseph, who was sold by his own family, thrown in jail for doing what was right, and forgotten after he did great things can stay strong and persevere. So can you!

Until next time, stay strong and keep the rubber side down.

Leading with compassion

 Leading with compassion

We've talked about being a passionate leader and how that changes the energy level of your team. 

Now we're gonna talk about being a compassionate leader in why you wanna be compassionate as well.

Go back to when you 1st went into the workforce, think about it for a second.  

• Did you like your boss? 

• Did you like your 2nd boss? 

• Is there maybe something that they helped you learn when you 1st started your job? 

• Did they have compassion and help you, or were they hard-nosed?

Sometimes when we've been with a team for a while we lose the compassion that we have with newer members to the team.

Compassion is something that we need to lead.  We need to have an understanding. 

We must know that mistakes will be made, and it doesn't mean that the person isn't smart. It doesn't mean that they're not intelligent.

What this means is that they're human. Just like every other person in this world. 

We all make mistakes. 

The difference between a good leader and a poor leader is that a good leader will have compassion for those mistakes. A good leader will have understanding & choose to help them learn from what happened. 

Most people are harder on themselves than anyone else could ever be. 

Having compassion for someone when they make a mistake is showing that it's OK. This is way better than coming off as a hard-nosed snob and telling them, "if you make another mistake I'll have no choice but to let you go."

When was the last time you had compassion for one of your team members? When was the last time you could have had more compassion for one of them?

We want to know about your favorite boss, tag them and tell us why they were awesome!

Keeping God 1st in every aspect

  Keeping God 1st in every aspect

Keeping God first is easy. I know from experience, much like the rest the world does. 

I know that I'm a sinner, I know that I have issues, I know that I struggle every day. 

The great thing is that I also know that I do my best to keep God first in every aspect. 

I know God is there for me. I know that he's here to help me. I know that when I am struggling he will give me a hand up.

I remember a few years ago when I was first getting to know God for real. 

You see I grew up in a Christian house and my mom and dad did a great job raising us and they taught me that God was there, God really existed, & Christ died for our sins.

As you know sometimes we don't listen to our parents, 

Sometimes we have to learn the hard way.

When I found God, it truly was an amazing part of my life. I started reading The Bible. Instantly I stopped cursing. It was at that point in my life that I knew God was there. God was alive. God was the reason for everything.

From then on I vowed to keep God in every aspect of my life. 

It wasn't long after that I stepped down as CEO of Eclipse DOT and named God is CEO of the company. Shortly after that, our company thrived under God's command. We realized we were here for his work. We realized that we were helping others under his commands.

Let's keep the conversation going. Be sure to share this post as well as comment about how you keep God first in your life.

Having passion as a leader

 Having passion as a leader 

Passion is another vital part of being a leader.  But it's not always about your passion it's about finding out what those around you are passionate about. 

Without passion, they'll never succeed.

Here are some tips to help you find out what others are passionate about.

Tip One:  Take a second and look around you,  what do you see?   Do you see a beautiful office filled with pictures of your family?  Do you see happy co-workers mingling having a good time working hard and unison for one common goal?  Do you see absolutely beautiful scenery out of a window?  

 keep looking until you find something it strikes happiness inside of you.  Once you are in the right mood now it’s time to go find out what others are passionate about.

Tip Two:  stand up, go for a walk down to the break room.  On your way to the break room say hi to everyone you meet or see.   

Pick one person or you don't normally talk to and ask them how their day is going.  Here's the key, listen to what they have to say, and then respond back with one question about the information they just told you.  

Tip Three: Repeat Step 2 at least 6 times a day.   You might be asking why in the world am I going to get up and go for a quick walk 6 times a day.  There's a couple reasons for that.   

The first reason is that by getting up and moving it creates a better mental state for you to be in and get your blood flowing to your brain.  

Second, it's going to allow you the ability to be seen more as a leader.   As you start talking to everybody they're not going to be afraid to come to you when they have a problem.   

What you're going to see is after doing this for 3 or 4 days or a week or two weeks people are going to start opening up more to you as you go for your walks.   

Pretty soon you're going to know that Dwayne has four kids and that his daughter is on the student council and his son is awesome at baseball and he's building a go-kart for another son and he has another daughter that absolutely loves basketball.   

Guess what you just found out about Dwayne's passions or his family.  You might also find out that Marsha's passion is video editing,  and Joe loves numbers.  

The point is that everybody has a passion and if you can figure out a way to connect with that passion as a leader the people around you or respect you so much more.

Started a get off your butt get out of your office and go for a walk.

Why you should never separate God and business/work.

  Why you should never separate God and business/work.

Alright, y'all know I'm a strong Christian.

We also know that I haven't always been a strong Christian. 

There was a time in my life where I wouldn't talk about God, anywhere. Except in my own house or a church.

I was what we call a Sunday Christian. 

You see God opened my eyes. He told me that it was all right to talk about him at work. 

He showed me that people would be interested in learning about him no matter where I was.

He showed me all of my social platforms are great areas to talk about him and that others want to know about him too.

I had somebody call me the other day and they said, “Dan I would love to have the courage and strength that you do when it comes to talking about God.” 

I asked him what they were talking about. 

They said, "Well, you're not afraid to talk about God anywhere! You put verses at the bottom of your web pages. You claim him in every aspect of your life. You give him full credit for everything that's ever happened to you."

They brought up something that never crossed my mind. I give God credit for everything. I'm not scared of him. I'm not scared to admit that I know him, that I love him, and I know that he uses me. 

You see I know that God exists and I know that God works in my business, the same as he works and so many other businesses around the world. 

God wants us to succeed, he wants us to prosper, he wants us to win. 

Why would you take away the best thing that could ever happen to your business by being scared that a customer might leave if you talk about God?

Think about what you can do to keep God in your life. Think about what you can do to add him to your business, to add him to your work life.  I encourage you to go out and be a HOT Christian, not a lukewarm one!

Do I need a USDOT number

 Do I need a USDOT number?

Knowing if you need a DOT number can be confusing we're going to help you determine whether you need one or not

The first question we have is do you operate vehicles?  Yes!

Is it for business or personal use?

If it's for personal use and you're not making any money on it then no DOT Number is needed. 

 

If it's for any type of business or anytime you're being compensated or getting paid to do a job the next question is Are you crossing state lines, Carrying hazardous materials? 

No, I never cross state lines and don't even know what hazmat is! You still might be required to get a DOT number there are 37 states in the US that require A USDOT number.

Why-yes fine sir I do cross state lines with my vehicle from time to time for business. 

Are you being paid to carry more than eight passengers including the driver?  or is your vehicle rated over 10,001 lb? Do you operate vehicles that were designed from the manufacturer to carry 15 or more passengers including the driver? you transport hazardous materials?

If you answered yes to any of these questions then you will be required to get a USDOT number.

Still not sure if you need to get a DOT number?

 Schedule a consultation call today by sending us a message.

Do I need a CDL

Do I need a CDL

 When I first went to work for a rather large company I had a guy come up to me and asked me “hey Dan do I need a CDL to drive this truck?”

 He's driving a 1 ton dually pickup pulling a gooseneck trailer.

 I said, “let's walk over and look at the truck,  so I  can show you how you know if you need a CDL or not.”

We walked over to the truck and started looking at it. We noticed that the GVWR on the truck was 14K.   Then we walked back and looked at the trailer. The trailer was rated 22.5k.  

I asked him what those two numbers added together equal.   he started to take off his shoes and I encouraged him to get his calculator out. just kidding.   

Anyways the GCWR of the truck and trailer are 36.5k lb.

We talked about how anytime a vehicle or combination of vehicles is rated over 26k a CDL is required to operate it.  

“Then he said hey let's go check out my buddies truck over here”

The truck was an older one ton dually its GVWR was 12k lb he was hooked up to a trailer rated at 14k lb.  

I told the guy to do the math you looked at me and he said “dude that's only rated at 26k lb even.  so my buddy doesn't have to have a CDL to drive this truck but if I hooked up to the same trailer with my newer truck I'd still have to have a class A CDL.”

I told him he was spot-on.

The entire point of this is that not all vehicles have the same GVWR.

With the evolution of the automotive industry their rating Vehicles higher than they used to be, therefore if you buy a new vehicle and have the same trailer it may require a CDL to operate that vehicle.

Today take a few seconds to go out and check your entire fleet, make a spreadsheet of all the GVWR of all of your trailers, and all of your pickups.   do a quick calculation to make sure that everything stays below 26k pounds or you have CDL Drivers in all those vehicles that combined have a GCWR of over 26k.

If you still have questions, reach out to us let us know how we can help you.

Being a positive leader

 Being a positive leader

Negativity casts a shadow on everything and everyone around you.

Think back when the last time that you were around somebody that was super negative didn't have anything nice to say all I can do is talk bad about the people around them or about the situation they never found the Brightside to anything.

What happened to you if you spent much time around them? You stopped seeing the bright side, you even stopped seeing the silver lining.

Their shadow of negativity cast over you.

Being positive when your leader is huge is probably one of the biggest things that you can do. Your attitude makes a difference is everybody else's attitude around you.

I had a boss one time, he definitely was not a leader, all he could do was talk crap about the other departments in our company.   he kept saying how he would do stuff differently if he was in that position or they don't know their head from a hole in the ground.  he never had anything positive to say about anything.

I was working remotely. I didn't get to spend much time around and my attitude didn't change much.   but the other guys on my team changed their attitude tremendously.

In less than three months I watched them go from somebody who would look for the Silver Lining occasionally to someone who never saw the silver lining.

The change to having an attitude really thought that they were better than everyone else around them.

Their leader influenced them just by his positiveness by his actions he changed the way they looked at the entire company.

The point is that as a leader your attitude makes all the difference in the world, starts the day out positive, looks for the positive side, be encouraging, be respectful and helps others to see the brighter side of any situation. 

Have you ever thought about hiring a coach to help your leaders grow?   We can help you with that and send us a message today to see if your company qualifies for our hot seat leadership program we're only opening this to 10 individuals.

Being a leader when you're not In-charge

 Being a leader when you're not In-charge

Some of the best leaders I've known have never truly been managers or been in charge of anyone. They know how to get people motivated, they know how to inspire them without actually having authority.

Let's talk about Dean Graziosi. Dean is a motivator, he is a leader.  

His purpose is to help people in the self-knowledge industry.

He knows how important it is for people to have control over their own growth.  

He doesn't really have any authority over anyone but still, he leads so many to success.

Personally, I've been in this situation many times.

Where I have no authority over people but get to help them ensure they are in compliance with federal regulations. 

The scare tactic hardly works for in this situation. 

On the other hand, I can sell them on the idea of why it's important for them to be in compliance. 

I can make them think that it's their decision.

You see, good leaders don't need credit for what they're doing, they don't need to be in charge, they don't need to have authority over others. 

The last person I want to talk about is Christ.  He took 12 strangers and didn't ask them what they were doing. He said come follow me and I will make you fishers of men. 

He was a leader.

He led them and still leads us today.

We challenge you today to go out in a position where you're not in authority and be a leader. If you are in a position of authority see what leaders work with you and for you.