Being On The Road....

Well being out on open road is amazing!!! I love driving the big rig. only things I really am working on right now is the backing the trailers in and the hooking up to another one. other than that my mentor says I am doing great driving, I picked it up really fast. I never driven stick before I started driving. so that was very interesting to learn on a big rig

my mentor and I get along good too which is a major plus, he hasn't raised his voice at me when I mess up on something. things are going great.

enjoying it out here. :)

Getting hooked up with the right mentor makes all the difference. Mine was the same way. No yelling or screaming. Just good coaching. The two biggest lessons I learned from him were 1)watch your signs and 2)go slow. Both have been instrumental in keeping me safe and getting lost only once my first year on the road. Got into a residential area by mistake. Good thing the cop that stopped and talked to me had a good sense of humor. He got me in the right direction and made sure traffice got out of the way Whew!!

A good mentor can make or break your trucking career. I've always considered the job of being a trainer more than just making money...its teaching new truckers to be the best, safest, most professional truck driver they can. So I'm always glad to hear that there are trainers out there that do the job right. And CONGRATS on taking advantage of your good trainer !!! They are invaluable to you in so many ways.

Really glad to hear you're enjoying yourself out there! I mean, this is pretty much the most difficult and stressful time in your trucking career. If you're enjoying this then you're going to be just fine out there. It's great to hear things are going so well!

Amanda, glad to hear you are doing well and enjoying it. I too had a great trainer/mentor. I have called him a number of times after going solo to ask him questions, and he still is more than willing to help a rookie out. Learn as much as you can under his tutelage, because when you get solo, he/she will not always be there anymore. You will need to make many more of your own decisions, and it can be scary at times. The up side to that is you will learn faster that way when you do make a mistake.

Congrats Amanda. I'm happy that it's all working out for you.