The Truck Driver Evaluation

Laura Booz: I want to tell you about a piece of paper that I found at the side of the road. At the top it says, “Daily truck driver evaluation” then there are some spaces for the student’s name, the instructor’s name, the truck number, the date, the start time, the ending time, the starting odometer, the ending odometer, and the total miles driven. The rest of the page is covered with seventy items . . . typed in eleven point font, typed in two neat columns—seventy items the student truck driver must do, or mustn’t do, while on the road. 

Hi there! You’re listening to Expect Something Beautiful with Laura Booz. 

So, I imagine the instructor sits in the passenger seat, holding a clipboard, and checks off these items as the student navigates tanks of milk from the dairy farms, or loads of green beans to the cannery down the road. 

To give you a feel of what that might be like, let’s pop you up in the driver’s seat and see how you do.

Now, remember the instructor is watching and the checklist is waiting. Okay, so first, you can earn a check mark for doing the things you should do. Earn a checkmark by looking ahead for trouble spots. 

Earn that checkmark for anticipating problems and errors. Remember to use your mirrors when driving straight and definitely use your mirrors when turning. 

Read every road sign, keep a safe following distance, and signal at every turn and lane change. 

Earn that checkmark by stopping at a proper distance from other vehicles. 

Maintain proper speed, and of course, yield to traffic and pedestrians. Check. Check. 

You want to make sure you get those things right every moment of your driving experience, but you’ll also want to consider the sixty items of “don’ts” on the checklist. 

Things that you may do that you should not do. For example, don’t shuffle to steer, don’t fail to use the tachometer on upshift, and don’t fail to use it on the downshift. Do not lug the engine, or overspeed it. Do not neglect to read the gauges when you start the engine, and don’t neglect to read the gauges when you’re driving. 

At times you may let go of the wheel, don’t. You may fail to keep the vehicle straight; don’t do that either. Don’t oversteer or swing too short or swing too wide. Don’t display poor judgment when turning, and don’t re-enter through the improper lane. 

Don’t ride the clutch while driving straight. Don’t ride the clutch during turns. Don’t depress the clutch too far. Don’t let out the clutch too soon. Don’t slip when shifting. Don’t stop on a hill. 

Upon considering all that could go wrong with the clutch, you may feel tempted to not use it at all . . . well don’t. 

At times you may break too hard, don’t do that. You may break too long, don’t do that either. You may forget to secure the parking brake, release the parking brake, or forget the proper use of the trolley . . . don’t, don’t, don’t.

Don’t rev the engine during upshift. Don’t under rev the engine during downshift. Don’t over accelerate. Don’t stall the vehicle, and don’t even think about displaying poor coordination. 

Well, how’d you do? I for one would fail this evaluation before putting the key in the ignition. I look at this checklist and I think this is impossible. I am ever so much more grateful for truck drivers who undergo such a thorough training. 

I also understand why one prospective driver seems to have tossed this paper right out of the window. 

I keep this truck driver evaluation form in my top desk drawer. Why? Because it reminds me of the daily evaluation I see in my Bible. A list of God’s expectations for human kind, that is far more daunting than these expectations for a student driver. 

God’s list is full of lovely, good, powerful, do’s and don’ts that I can’t seem to accomplish. Things like, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” “Be quick to listen and slow to anger.” “Make the most of the time.” And, “Pray without ceasing.” 

God’s evaluation list also contains the things I should not do. “Thou shalt not lie.” “Do not forget your Creator.” “Do not be slothful in zeal.” 

I love God’s commands, but I cannot meet His expectations. I’d be better off to toss the whole thing out the window. 

And yet, when I look at this daily truck driver evaluation form, I remember that there’s hope. God’s mercy is woven throughout the entire Bible. It says that He remembers we are dust. It says He gave His Son to fulfill all of His expectations—every single do and don’t, every single should and should not, for all of us who have no hope of achieving it on our own merit. 

Maybe you’ve been trying so hard to do what’s right and it feels as impossible as following the seventy rules on this truck driver evaluation. Maybe it feels like you’ve already failed the test. 

It’s common to approach the Bible like it’s a list of instructions. But the real message of the Bible is, you can’t pass the test, and you don’t have to. Jesus passed the test for you. 

Does this mean the checklist and the rules don’t matter? Well, maybe think of it this way: the purpose of the checklist is to keep truck drivers and other motorists safe, right? The checklist also makes sure deliveries get delivered on time. God designed our lives to work in a certain way, to show love to others, and to give Him glory. 

So, we really do want to do His will, just like we want truck drivers to stay on the road. But once we come to faith in Christ and realize He fulfilled the requirements of the list, we’re motivated all over again to live for Him. 

Not only that, but He gives us the Holy Spirit. He gives us His power to show love to others, and point people to Him. It’s true and good that every student truck driver must work to earn every checkmark on the daily evaluation form for herself. She must not miss a thing. But the Christian . . . well the Christian must rest in the reality that Christ has earned every checkmark for her. 

I keep this daily truck driver evaluation in my top desk drawer to remind me that Christ’s perfection is superimposed over my own imperfect incomplete record, and He frees me to live like I ought—repentant, grateful, obedient.

In a sense, a truck driving test is a challenge to be overcome, and we can face similar challenges in our lives knowing Jesus has ultimately overcome sin and death. 

We would like to help you explore this idea by sending you a booklet called, Overcomers: Lessons from the Churches in Revelation. It’s based on teaching by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth. She’s teaching through the letters to the churches in Revelation on the Revive Our Hearts podcast. 

So, I hope you’ll get a copy of the booklet and listen to the entire teaching series. We’ll send you the booklet Overcomers when you make a donation of any amount here in the month of August. Your support of Revive Our Hearts will keep Expect Something Beautiful coming your way each month.

To make your donation, visit ReviveOurHearts.com and follow the prompts. In the box it says “Reason for Giving” you can write, “I want to support Expect Something Beautiful.” Again, you can do all of that by visiting ReviveOurHearts.com. 

I also hope you’ll check out my personal blog, LauraBooz.com. I’d like to remind you of the wonder and beauty of everyday life through stories like the one you just heard. 

Expect Something Beautiful is a production of Revive Our Hearts calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.