The Tough Reality Of OTR Team Driving

You may be right. What has me down and out is the experiences other people are having in comparison to mine. I'll quit the complaining and work on this at a different level.

Hudsonhawk comes to a conclusion:

You may be right. What has me down and out is the experiences other people are having in comparison to mine. I'll quit the complaining and work on this at a different level.

There you go! It's wonderful to know how other people are doing, compared to your results. There will always be those doing better and those doing worse, whether it's because of "luck" or ability.

The danger is in becoming envious of the more successful ones. You read that somebody is getting 3000 miles per week "on average", and you pout because you never see those 1400 mile runs. You think, "I'm doing everything I can, as well as I can.... Don't the planners and my DM see that? Why can't I get the big cross country runs? ... What a bunch of dingbats in the office. ... I hear Celaschnider has miles and miles of work. I bet I can get some of those! I'm going to have to loose these weenies at C.R. Huntland!"

That's the story behind "The grass is greener" - envy. Stick with what you have until you have a decent amount of experience.

I've been driving for Swift since February. Yes, I have that one year commitment, which encourages me to stay. I have also heard of other Swift Drivers, and USX and Celadon and Roehl drivers with more weekly miles than I get. But I'm always working my own account. Comparison is a great tool for your use. Just don't get jealous.

You may be right. What has me down and out is the experiences other people are having in comparison to mine. I'll quit the complaining and work on this at a different level.

I've gotta tell ya.....I was sooooooo d*mn excited when I first started my trucking career I can remember details from 1993 vividly, like they just happened yesterday. I can remember word for word conversations with my instructors at school and my trainer on the road. I can remember my classmates, my first time ever climbing into a truck, and my first time ever driving one on the highway in school. I remember meeting my trainer for the first time, driving on the highway for the first time with my first company, and I even remember ordering a cheeseburger and fries at the very first truck stop I ever went to the first day on the road with that same trainer. I remember we were going up I-85 out of Atlanta. We stopped at a truck stop just over the border in South Carolina on our way to my first delivery ever in Maryland. I even remember parking on the back row so he could let me back into a spot with nobody else around. My first time ever backing into a spot at a truck stop!!

I just thought getting to drive a rig was the coolest experience imaginable and I don't think I slept for weeks I was so wound up. I couldn't stop smiling and I couldn't stop asking everyone questions. To me the whole thing felt like I got hired to be a paid tourist at DisneyWorld. It was just overwhelming and priceless to me.

I can even remember after delivering in Maryland we got a load to Northern California. I had never been west of Pennsylvania for God's sake! I couldn't believe we were going to drive to California! I remember my trainer giving me a break and taking the wheel for a while. We were going through Wyoming and I was supposed to be sleeping but how could I sleep??? I never saw Wyoming before. It looked like Cowboys and Indians were going to come riding towards us from the horizon at any moment just like on TV!

It's a shame everyone can't be that excited about this career. I can absolutely promise you I didn't have a single complaint in the world all through schooling or training. In fact I did my training in July and August in a gigantic stone lot in Georgia where it was 150 degrees every day, no air conditioning in the black trucks we were learning backing with, and when we'd come in we'd all have to wash about 1/4 inch of dirt off of our sweat-soaked faces.......and all I could do was laugh with delight. What a treat to learn to drive a big rig.

I hope you can find the fun and the great opportunity in all of this. You'll obviously never feel like I did about it, but come on man! You're driving a great big American Big Rig! How cool is that???? Grab a granola bar for the next time you're stuck in a parking lot and enjoy a good book. Is that really so bad that it's making you miserable? Seems like a shame to me. To this day I still get all wound up and excited telling stories about trucking school from 25 years ago. I'm sitting here smiling from ear to ear just remembering it all.

Hmmm...note to self: if I make it through training, buy a bucket :) I hate to say it out loud, but maybe I should, while I can get some good advice. I have a chipmunk bladder and actually have a battery implant for my condition, which helps a lot, but there's no way I could go 12 hours without a bathroom. Snacks and baby wipes are a no brainer (I have two kids), and I'm not afraid to find a tree, but I'm guessing that's frowned upon in a city lol.

Here you go!

All you need is a 5 Gallon Bucket, A Pool Noodle and some good Garbage Bags. Maybe a bag of cat litter to drop a bit in the bag to help with the "mess" before you tie up the bag to dispose of it.

Hmmm...note to self: if I make it through training, buy a bucket :) I hate to say it out loud, but maybe I should, while I can get some good advice. I have a chipmunk bladder and actually have a battery implant for my condition, which helps a lot, but there's no way I could go 12 hours without a bathroom. Snacks and baby wipes are a no brainer (I have two kids), and I'm not afraid to find a tree, but I'm guessing that's frowned upon in a city lol.

Here you go!

All you need is a 5 Gallon Bucket, A Pool Noodle and some good Garbage Bags. Maybe a bag of cat litter to drop a bit in the bag to help with the "mess" before you tie up the bag to dispose of it.

Bahahahahahaha!! That exact image just showed up on my Facebook feed and I posted it here under a new thread a mere 10 minutes ago :~p

Hmmm...note to self: if I make it through training, buy a bucket :) I hate to say it out loud, but maybe I should, while I can get some good advice. I have a chipmunk bladder and actually have a battery implant for my condition, which helps a lot, but there's no way I could go 12 hours without a bathroom. Snacks and baby wipes are a no brainer (I have two kids), and I'm not afraid to find a tree, but I'm guessing that's frowned upon in a city lol.

Here you go!

All you need is a 5 Gallon Bucket, A Pool Noodle and some good Garbage Bags. Maybe a bag of cat litter to drop a bit in the bag to help with the "mess" before you tie up the bag to dispose of it.

Bahahahahahaha!! That exact image just showed up on my Facebook feed and I posted it here under a new thread a mere 10 minutes ago :~p

Haha, That is funny :) I just pulled this image from a Google search for something like "DIY Bucket Camping Toilet" ... This photo must be trending cause it was towards the top of Googles search results on the images page.

Jeremy, you started off so well and patient. You seemed to demonstrate the qualitiecperfect student. At what point did you decide to forsake those great characteristics and experiencxcessive complainer?

I mean give me a break, you're driving with a qualified experienced driver and you're telling everyone how the show should be ran. You haven't even dipped your toes in the water yet but you have it figured out based on your observations.

You labeled your instructor as having anger issues. Heck, I would be labeled an angry madman if I had a student who *****ed about parking at shippers & receivers. Truth be told I would have droped you off at the terminal a long time ago.

You're a good guy and I have sympathy for how long you had to wait for an instructor, but now you have one and you're totally blowing it. Put your big boy pants on the PSD phase is only 70 hours then you can get someone else for the next phase.

Jeremy, l followed your thread when you talked about your struggle in getting a trainer and your patience was an inspiration to me. It took me a week and half to get a trainer and I was super restless. Now I am on the road and learning to live in a tiny space with another man who accepted a trainee to live in his house. The truck is his home. We must learn, as trainees that this is how the business works for them. You have to learn your partners ways, what makes them happy, frown, and upset. You just can't expect them to know your wants and needs. Be respectful and but your needs in question form so that they don't imply that they are about you, they are just general questions. If you have been a follower of this site nothing you are experiencing should be a surprise. Don't let your weeks of waiting for a trainer ruin the reason you wanted to become a trucker. Your trainer is supposed to be tough on you. That's why you chose Prime, 40,000 miles of training =3-4 months of otr experience. Make good with your current trainer, because you never know what the next one is going to be like. I plan on staying with mine a couple months after tnt because winter is right around the corner and learning how to drive in those conditions with someone with experience can only make me a better driver. P.S.. PEANUT BUTTER, CANS OF CHEF BOY ARDEE, AND A SIX PACK OF WATER GO A LONG WAY.

I just need to quit frowning, you all are pretty dam right. I apolagize for the childish attitude. It'll get better.

I just need to quit frowning, you all are pretty dam right. I apolagize for the childish attitude. It'll get better.

The last thing you are is childish. The fact that you're realizing your faults and owning up to them tells us a lot about you. I have respect for people like that.

You're under a lot of stress right now. What you're going through is extremely tough. I know what you're going through and it's easy to turn sour when the weight on your shoulders is more than you can bare. My best advice would be to give it to God and try daily relaxation exercises. If you're a tea drinker I highly recommend Yogi Stress Relief. Find things to take your mind off of trucking, I love nature walks for that same reason. Get creative!

Just font drink that kava tea while driving man. That stuff can burn you out.