I'm Out

Hey everyone. A couple of weeks ago I signed on with Prime, and thought things would be well. Wednesday I realized I missed my wife more than anything in the world, and the thought of being without her made me so homesick I just had to get out.

So here I am, stuck in Wyoming (my trainer can't seem to get me home, and neither can Prime), waiting to get home. I thank all of you for the advice and especially Brett for this wonderfully informative website, but this just isn't my cup of tea.

Hey everyone. A couple of weeks ago I signed on with Prime, and thought things would be well. Wednesday I realized I missed my wife more than anything in the world, and the thought of being without her made me so homesick I just had to get out.

So here I am, stuck in Wyoming (my trainer can't seem to get me home, and neither can Prime), waiting to get home. I thank all of you for the advice and especially Brett for this wonderfully informative website, but this just isn't my cup of tea.

Yeah man it's not for everyone and don't take it hard on yourself. This job has many struggles and missing the wife and kids is a huge challenge.

It's a good thing that you got out before you got too far into it. It's an extreme challenge for you as a husband but its equally challenging for your wife too. Everything you've done she has to start doing - on top of all the other things she's already been doing. It's not an easy lifestyle. I'm proud of you for being smart enough to realize that it won't happen rather than sticking around and being completely miserable meanwhile your marriage and life just slowly falls apart.

Good luck in your future sir!

Philip, there's not a one of us on here who doesn't respect your decision, but I just want to ask you do you think you gave it enough time?

We all know that the over the road lifestyle is a huge adjustment, especially for someone whose married. I'm going to be painfully honest and open with you here, I've been married 31 years this month to a woman I love more than anything. There are times on the road that I just bust into tears because the separation is so painful, it seems like a part of me is missing out here at times. I also thoroughly enjoy this job though, and my wife is glad I am doing something I enjoy.

I wish you would have given it some more time, I wish you would have at least waited until you could go solo. You'd have a lot more time then where you could talk on the phone and keep the communication open between you.

This career is a huge commitment for a married couple, and when someone quits so early like this I get concerned that they're not really sure why they quit and they just pick one of the many reasons that are bothering them and blame it on that one reason when really they haven't had the chance to work through all the reasons that make it so difficult at the beginning. I mean there was something about this career that appealed to you at the beginning or else you wouldn't have put so much effort into pursuing it in the first place. We just recently had someone quit like this, but now after being home for a while and looking at why they quit honestly they've decided to jump back in with a new attitude. I don't know if they will stick with it or not, but I'm glad they re-assessed the real reason why they quit and decided to try it again.

It takes an awful lot of "want to" to make it through the first three months of this career, and I know it certainly isn't for everyone. I certainly wish you the best, but if you begin to think you might be having a change of heart, you feel free to jump in here with questions or concerns and we will be glad to welcome you back.

Stay in touch.

Hey Philip. Ya know, you may be right - it may not be your cup of tea. But you know what you could do? You could wait just a short time to make that decision. Like maybe even a few more days. Treat this time on the road like a short vacation, enjoy it to the max, and when you get back home you can decide what to do about it. Maybe you'll find a different perspective on it or a new strategy and decide to stick with it. Maybe you'll find a local opportunity in just a few short months that gets you home every night. Then you'd have a new career and still be at home.

The road gets to everyone at times - especially when you're new. It's overwhelming. And being away from your wife has got to be brutal. But consider seeing this through for a bit longer. Look at it as a vacation or an adventure that will be over soon enough. You'll be home before you know it and you'll have a million stories to tell.

When the road would get to me sometimes I'd consider quitting. We all do. But I had figured out long ago that I'd never quit something when things weren't going well. Like you don't quit a job on a day when it's 38 degrees and raining, the boss is in a terrible mood, and you're fighting with your wife. You wait until a 75 degree sunny day when everything is just as great as it can be. If under those circumstances you still want to quit your job (or whatever the tough decision may be) then you do it.

So maybe ride this out just a little longer. Push through and see what tomorrow and the next day bring. Maybe you can get through training while your wife helps you find a local opportunity back home. Maybe just a few more weeks or a couple of months of this and you'll have a local job and be home every night.

If you can't find any reason that makes quitting right this moment imperative then stick it out for a day or two. Start making other plans, but stay the course in the meantime. Enjoy it as you would an adventurous vacation.

I am also a new driver Phillip so I can understand the struggle. Take your time make the right dession for you but on that note do now made a rash dession and sell your self short, trust me being away from your family is the hardest part of this job for me but maybe look at it like I try to is me givingg upnand goin home going to be the best dession for my family at this point . In the end you have to deside what is best for you, but we all struggle with being away from family being new to the indestry us rookies may struggle with it abit more because at this point we are way out of our comfort zone and way far away from any saftey nets we are used too. Their are pleanty of local and dedicated routs once you have some time under your belt. So the time away from family maybe just a tempary thing keep strongnand do whats best for you best of luck

I had the same experience was out for a week with a company trainer and did not like it one bit. So went home and found a local job with a ltl carrier. now it's very hard to find a job like that just out of school. I was very lucky! So if you like driving don't give up. There is other was to have a driving job

I appreciate the advice and encouragement, but I'm still heading home.

I guess I realize that it's not for me right now. If it was 5 years ago, then I wouldn't of blinked twice. And maybe I'll try again in 5 or 10 years. Right now, however, I want to focus on relationship my wife and I have. I enjoyed the time out on the road (even though my trainer was pretty negative) and I feel like I was starting to get the hang of it, so I'm going to re-evaluate things later on in my life and see where it takes me.

I still think you have an amazing website, Brett. I wish that everyone interested in trucking could pull this up first on Google, because this is a gem. I'll still peek my head in here occasionally, so don't think I'm outta here forever! Good luck to everyone who's aspiring to work in this very challenging field!