Failed My Road Test Yesterday.

I psyched myself out, and let my nerves get to me. So I am going to swallow my pride and just go thru Swifts Academy in Phoenix. My dad is a 45 yr veteran trucker, he said all it will do is just make me a better driver in the long run, so here goes. I have my cdl's but obviously I need to get more practice in

Yeah, don't sweat it one bit. In the grand scheme of things, it means nothing. Go through the academy and get all of the advice and practice you can get. Ask a ton of questions. Your dad is totally right - it's going to help you in the end.

Getting your trucking career underway is an incredibly humbling experience for everyone. Learning to drive and back up those monsters makes you feel like a clumsy knucklehead. When you go to a school and watch students learning how to back up it looks like something that belongs on Saturday Night Live!!! Trucks going in all different directions, jackknifed, turned the wrong way - it's sooooo funny!

But with practice you become better at it and before you know it you'll be a true pro.

So don't think you're different than anyone else when it comes to getting the hang of it. Your dad could have driven for 10,000 years and owned a fleet of 10,000 trucks but that wouldn't make it any easier for you to learn this trade than it is for anyone else. We're all knuckleheads in the beginning. Embrace your knuckleheadedness and enjoy the experience of learning how to drive these monsters. Once you get on the road you're going to be really, really thankful for the extra practice and advice you'll get from the Swift Driving Academy. There are a ton of drivers that get out there on the road and realize in a big way that the methods they use to teach backing up at school do not translate well to the real world. It takes a ton of practice to really understand what you're doing.

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