Thank You

Been solo almost 4 months...and feeling it lol. I perused this site before I started driving, but yesterday I dug in and read as many articles as I could and just need to let you know that I feel so much better! All of the stories about getting lost, having to back out a half a mile on a narrow dirt road, heading in the wrong direction, etc. etc. etc....yep, I've already done all of that plus so much more. I was really beginning to doubt my ability to do this job. But I saw so many others have had the same rookie experiences and you just don't know how much it helped me to know that. Now I just gotta "buck up" and keep improving and proving to my company that I was a good hire....thanks for this site...no words can tell you how much it has and will continue to help me become the trucker I wish to be. Thanks!

Hang in there Sheree!

I think you've gotten past the hardest part. Everyday is a new challenge, and a new chance to prove you've got what it takes.

Welcome aboard, and now that you are out of the shadows we hope you will "hang out" with us a little because I'm confident you have plenty that you could contribute to our discussions.

You are quite welcome Sheree.

As you are finding out, most everyone makes mistakes from time to time. Some share their misfortune, others don't. But that's ok, it's all good at the end of the day.

Hope everything continues to get better for you as time goes on.

One thing I will share with you, learn to trust your gut instinct about things. I know it sure has helped me on more than one occasion. There seems to be that little voice in my head that says "you might want to think about this a little more", and the times I have listened to that little voice has saved me lots of grief. The times I didn't, well not so much.

Ernie

That "gut instinct" is REAL!!! Funny how the times I've ignored it I've ended up in not fun situations. Thankfully, I've been fortunate enough to either find a place to turn around on my own, or someone just "happened" to be around to help direct me (I believe them to be angels lol). But it wastes a lot of time and frazzles the nerves and so not worth it! At school they teach "slow down" and that never made any PRACTICAL sense to me till now...rather than risk missing a turn or turning down the wrong road to NeverNeverLand, I slow down, throw on my 4-ways and stop if I have to, to make sure of where I need to be...and THAT has been my biggest help. I have always prided myself on navigation skills....till now...lol.

Yeah, at 4 months, you are past the worst part. Hang in there and stay tuned in to that gut instinct about pending situations. It takes a bit of extra time to stay out of trouble but, when you actually get into a bad situation, how much more time do you lose?

At school they teach "slow down" and that never made any PRACTICAL sense to me till now...

That's the hard part about preparing people for a career in trucking. Until you've experienced it for yourself a lot of the advice really doesn't "click" with people. One example is how I always preach about having a great attitude. And I know people think, "Yeah, yeah...rah rah cheerleader....whatever" until they get out there and realize that most truckers handle themselves very poorly when faced with a situation they're not happy with like waiting a long time to get loaded or getting pulled in for an inspection. If you'll just approach everyone with a friendly, fun attitude they'll be so surprised that you're a friendly trucker that you'll often times get far better treatment than you would have hoped for. You'll get loaded and unloaded more quickly, you'll get out of tickets, you'll get favors from dispatch, and all kinds of stuff. I can absolutely assure people that I made more money every year than I would have simply because I made sure I was as friendly as I could be with everyone I had to deal with. I did indeed get out of tickets, get loaded and unloaded sooner, and got better runs with better miles from dispatch.

For anyone looking for some great reading about real life experiences we have forum topics tagged "Hard Lessons Learned". Read through some of those and you'll see just how tough life is out there and hopefully you'll learn some of these lessons the easy way.

Here are some more:

• Articles Tagged "Hard Lessons Learned"
• Article Category: Stories Of The Road
• Article Category: Truck Driving Lifestyle