The Least Stressful Job For A Rookie Driver

I'm sure most of you are familiar with our good friend Six-String. He landed almost the perfect the job for himself and his family right out of the gates getting his Line Haul / LTL gig. But what usually goes along with great pay, is great stress. Putting in long hours, then driving home each night. Getting back to the terminal and starting it all over again seems like massive input when your still trying to learn how to be a driver.

I have great admiration for this man taking on so much.

His experience has me wondering if I should aim a little lower down on the career ladder to have a little less clock stress. Then move up to that LTL - L/H gig after my 1 year baptism by fire.

What would be the ratings of stress working against the clock in Rookie driving careers? I know the job is HOS based, so there is always going to be SOME clock stress, but it looks like these Line Haul drivers keep very tight schedules.

So how would the following be rated in terms of stress of getting there on time?

LTL P$D LTL L/H LTL Regional Bag driver ( week out / home weekends )

TL / LTL Regional dedicated TL / LTL Regional

TL OTR

I'm sure I have missed some jobs in there, but I'm looking for the least stressful job to start out. Decent money - $35-40k, so I can just focus on the job at hand - learning how to drive safely / efficiently .

I'm going to be the first to say "If you're CDL , you're always going to be stressed" You could try local company's, your local lumber yard, cement co. etc... BUT, the customer is going to want it his way, in this spot and at this time. They all will be stressful, if you are driving a Commercial vehicle, your under DOT control as well as driving a vehicle that is going to cause Major damage to anyone and anything in its way (which if you look at Daniel B's thread ) most people don't even think about. That being said, Good Luck and many miles in front of you!!

Sorry AJ, Didn't mean to sound so negative. I know that you are on the docks now, if that is already pushing your buttons on noise, etc.. I'm just saying that any driving is going to bring stress, with all the rules and such. I started out in heating fuel delivery and got to meet a lot of new people, made some friends (cost of fuel, your not a favorite to see) and it was actually a low stress job.

I would say a regional route would be the least stressful, since it will keep you in a familiar area. Possibly doing the same route every week so there would be more of a routine. But never let your guard down. I used to do a regional route same thing every week it got a little boring, but I was home 2 days a week. I'm OTR now and like the adventure of it.

Kind of hard to say AJ. LTL and city would be more stressful for me. I liked being regional and love what I am doing now, (OTL). Not sure there is a lower position on the ladder though. Just depends on what you want to do and if you truly enjoy it, there will be less stress. I think you can consider moving into another division a promotion if you started somewhere you didn`t want to be and worked hard to move to where you did want to be.

I think it would depend on what you find stressful. Myself I found a local gig that is virtually a regional route. Home almost every night and hauling freight that isn't "critical" so if I have to shut down due to weather the company doesn't give me a hard time and helps me find a hotel. Not all jobs are like that but that's another option.

Kind of hard to say AJ. LTL and city would be more stressful for me. I liked being regional and love what I am doing now, (OTL). Not sure there is a lower position on the ladder though. Just depends on what you want to do and if you truly enjoy it, there will be less stress. I think you can consider moving into another division a promotion if you started somewhere you didn`t want to be and worked hard to move to where you did want to be.

Thanks RT ...

btw, what is OTL?

Thanks for all the input guys...

I don't think I worded this thread quite right. I have been in high stress environments most of my previous career and nothing is pushing my buttons. I know I can handle it all just fine.

I was just wanting to know , out of all the trucking jobs out there, which ones were considered more stressful than others, and just try to avoid those my first year.

I made the same post over at the TR site, and the thread got shut down I got so ****ed off at some of the smart ass comments coming from those guys. Punks hiding behind avatars are the worst !

Please excuse my French. ;) .... I'm still a little fired up about it. People say the craziest stuff on forums because they know I can't reach out a jack their jaw ! ...

The TT is the best helping site, hands down.

Keep in mind AJ that I just went through a hellacious rookie campaign, running the NE and then being dispatched into the bowels (NYC and Jersey City). Even the yard jockey was surprised I was sent to Jersey City on my 4th day on the job. But, it will get easier. In the long run, I will have these routes down to a routine and will not have to go anywhere I haven't already been. Shortly, I'll get my run where I'm going to the same place, over and over again. What some OTR drivers refer to as 'adventure,' I can honestly say that I'd rather not go to different places all the time. I"ll take my boring runs, over and over again, to a terminal rather than a shipper / receiver. Plus I'll be home every day w/ two days off soon enough.

So, don't be scared by my last post in my thread. It's rather a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of time I'll have driving where I'll be very familiar with the same destinations. I'd say that my job will eventually be one of the lowest stress trucking jobs available, but like any new trucking job, there will always be some initial dues to pay upfront.

Here's the unhelpful but sarcastic answer:

The least stressful job for the rookie driver ---- the jobs that the experienced drivers get

-mountain girl