I Might Be Done With Truck Driving

Hey Gladhand, keep us posted on how things go. We're rooting for you man. It's been said a million times but it doesn't hurt to say it again--just take it slow and GOAL. Now go get some safe miles, fellow Swiftie!

I wouldn't give up on driving just yet... You haven't made it on twisted truckers right?

If you get nervous about making people wait while you back just remember the times you've pulled in to fuel while the person at the pump was taking his or her 30.

If I get that feeling of hurry up I'll pop the brakes... simple as that. I've taken a mirror off once and if I'm honest I haven't been back to that truckstop and won't go back ever again. But it did serve as a learning experience.

Get out of your head it's a bad neighborhood! Things happen... learn and move on.

I do occasionally goal but other than seeing that I'm close or have a mile between me and the obstacle it does nothing to help me back... It's hard for me to put into words what I mean by that. But I can't really tell from behind the truck what I need to do.. I can from in the cab.

My goal is mostly just to relax my nerves.

And I agree with Brett when he mentioned doing it on your own. Having a spotter always scares me. You already know how to back so don't rely on someone whom may or may not know how.

Confidence is a funny thing. It's funny to read training posts of new people. You watch their posts go from I'll never get this to I've got this, and finally on to what happened I had this. Find a routine that starts with slowing down. Everything else from then on will fall into place.

Sculpy gets worried:

Honestly this is one of my worries. GOAL will let me see where everything is, but it's a static view. I worry the GOAL won't help me figure out what I have to do with my maneuver because not seeing the trailer IN MOTION won't help me understand the overall curve it's actually taking. But I guess i'll just have to practice and get better like everyone else!

Here's an exercise to help you see how a trailer moves as you back it up. Get a spoon or a fork, lay it on the table in front of you with the curve/ bowl being up. Push the spork by pushing on the very end of the handle part with one finger. The bottom of the curve is like the tandems and the "far end" is the back of the trailer.

Push the "near end" a bit left, the spork will begin to point right. This is how a trailer will turn as you back up. Set two table knives as a slot to back your trailer in between.

This gives you a rough idea on his a trailer back-up works.

Hehe, that's a good tip, i'll try that. Thanks for your input Errol and Brett, much appreciated. I'm a bit nervous now but I know i'll own it and be mindful of doing it right once I get started. This place has been inspiring.

Another practice is to get a broom or mop, hold the end of the handle next to your hip, and walk around the house. Don't let the broom touch corners, furniture or doorways!

If you have a mop, maybe you could try this by also backing or pushing the mop around some corner.

Well I have to talk to the boss and still need to take the backing class. Also my risk score is going to go up some more because I got put OOS too. Man I know I should be alright, but it doesn't feel good to go from being a good driver to being a high risk one. I'll keep you guys updated.

Gladhand, Paul was in the same situation. He is now on a Dedicated Account. Keep your head up, you'll be just fine!

I'll try my best, been feeling extra nervous about everything lately. That I'm starting to not feel safe, I know it's not a huge deal, but it's making me uncomfortable when I am driving. I feel like I am walking on eggshells now.

Gladhand, Paul was in the same situation. He is now on a Dedicated Account. Keep your head up, you'll be just fine!

It'll be interesting to see how Swift handles this. Probably just a LCQ class and a Swift Decision Driving class as well as a talk with safety--basically, what Gladhand already said.

An interesting point about the dedicated accounts though...this is part of why I encourage people to get on one while they can. Once you're dedicated, you're "in" unless you have a service failure. Dedicated accounts do NOT like those. My RA score went really high after I was already on one of our top fleets. They just kept me on, but I don't think they would've have taken me if my score was already that high. After that, I switched around some, but the other accounts were more willing to take me since I had already been on a pretty strict fleet.

I'll try my best, been feeling extra nervous about everything lately. That I'm starting to not feel safe, I know it's not a huge deal, but it's making me uncomfortable when I am driving. I feel like I am walking on eggshells now.

Remember our saying on here. If you didn't hit anything or get a ticket, it was a good day. You've had many, many good days, so you know how to do it and you know it's pretty easy most of the time. Don't worry about tomorrow. Just don't hit anything or get any tickets TODAY. It's that simple. Now just keep doing that and your score will be back down before you know it. Taking it one day at a time works--I know firsthand.