Check Call: ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ – 89 years later

In this edition: A look at an update to the original management and leadership book, and CVSA’s Roadcheck comes next week. The post Check Call: ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ – 89 years later appeared first on FreightWaves.

May 6, 2025 - 19:06

Check Call: ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ – 89 years later

April’s book review is a little late but it’s for a classic. We went to what could be considered the original management and leadership book, Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” In the spirit of full disclosure, it is the version published in 2022, which is “updated for the next generation of leaders.” This version is edited and compiled by Carnegie’s daughter to remove references to people or places that readers would not recognize or are out of touch with today’s world.

This book has been touted for ages as the best interpersonal relationship and management guide. I was hesitant to read it thinking it was overhyped, especially since it was originally written in 1936.

I am happy to say that I was wrong. Despite its being older, it really sets the tone for most of the management and interpersonal books that are on the market today. A lot of the same skills and topics addressed in this book have been prevalent in previous books in the review series.

The main concept of this book is neatly summed up with the golden rule: Do to others as you would have them do to you. Carnegie applies this to three areas of human interaction: making yourself likable, changing people’s minds and affecting others’ behavior.

Carnegie’s theory boils down to simply being kind to another person, listening well and expecting the best from others. That may seem very common sense, but for some who are hell-bent on a goal or trying to close a deal, this can be forgotten – as is extensively highlighted in the book.

The book includes anecdotes, many of past presidents like Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, in addition to world leaders like Andrew Carnegie (no relation) and Henry Ford. Carnegie quotes Ford: “If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as from your own.”

As for how to take the core concepts from the book and apply them to real life, there are countless examples – everything from spending 13 years trying to close a deal to negotiating a rent increase with landlords to, most importantly, developing personal relationships.

An interesting concept in the book regards the final step of getting someone to do what you want them to do. “Action springs out of what we fundamentally desire … and [desire can be] the best source of advice which can be given to would-be persuaders,” writes Carnegie.

Overall I’d give the book a solid 3.5/5 stars. It was good, if repetitive, and I can’t say the recommendation to revisit this book on a monthly basis will be taken. It serves as an excellent reminder that most of the time people just want someone to listen to them and care about them.

Got a recommendation for the next book? I’m all ears.

TRAC Tuesday. This week’s lane goes between two major markets: Atlanta and Chicago. The 686-mile jaunt through the South and Midwest has spot rates leaving a lot to be desired. Rates are $1.39 per mile, nearly a dollar less than the National Truckload Index’s $2.21 per mile.

Outbound tender rejections in Atlanta are at 8.95% but remaining moderately stable with less than 1% changes week over week. Chicago has the same stability in outbound tender rejections, but the OTRI is much lower at 3.87%. The national OTRI is at 8.95% and rising. As long as Chicago continues to be significantly lower than the national average, spot rates in and out of the market will remain depressed.

Who’s with whom. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. It’s time for the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) International Roadcheck. This year it’s scheduled for next Tuesday through Thursday, May 13-15. The CVSA defines the event as, “International Roadcheck is a high-visibility, high-volume commercial motor vehicle and driver inspection and regulatory compliance enforcement initiative that takes place over three days in Canada, Mexico and the United States.”

Each year the CVSA focuses on a specific area of the inspection, in addition to the comprehensive 37-step procedure. This year the dreaded week is focusing on tires and false record-of-duty status.

According to the CVSA, “To ensure compliance with HOS regulations, drivers must accurately reflect their times and duty statuses in their RODS, which is a log that a commercial motor vehicle driver must maintain to record their driving activity. Failure to record, complete or retain the log, or knowingly falsifying logs or other related reports, is not only a driver out-of-service violation, it also makes the driver and/or carrier liable to prosecution.”

As for the equipment side of things, “Inspectors will check tires’ tread depth and proper inflation. They will also be on the lookout for tire damage, such as air leaks, tread separation, cuts, bulges, sidewall damage and improper repairs.”

This week has a significant place in the industry as typically there is a sharp uptick in rejections for the week with carriers and drivers opting to stay home instead of face delays. Shippers should be warned that transit times may increase throughout the week, which could hinder production schedules.