The Nerves Are Hitting

I leave for Charlotte, NC tomorrow for my first driving job, and my nerves are all jacked up. Its the first job I've ever driven more than an hour for (made house calls as an HVAC tech) and I've never been to Charlotte before.

I'm scared of what could go wrong, but also optimistic about what the future holds as a "professional driver." I guess I'm just looking for some last second confirmations that I've made a good choice, to help calm myself down.

I'm pumped guys and gals! This is gonna be fun! -nervous laughter-

I feel your pain buddy! I had to do my training in the Chicago area; the biggest city I personally drove in prior to that was Kansas City, but only very briefly and mostly at night. Just remember to breathe; you got this!!!

Hey man, first of all, everyone feels that way in the beginning. It's a super cool and exciting adventure, but there are obvious risks. You're supposed to be a little nervous.

Just do two things for yourself:

1) Remind yourself to always remain confident in your abilities. Everyone performs better when they take a deep breath, tell themselves, "I've got this", and just let it happen. So keep yourself pumped up with confidence. It will improve your performance.

2) Remind yourself that negative thoughts and fear will only distract you from focusing on the task at hand. How can you be at your best if you're not 100% focused on what you're trying to do, right? So when thoughts of fear or doubt creep in, and they will, force your mind to focus completely on the job at hand. Only think about what you need to do, never about what can happen.

An interesting story to make my point - when people first try rock climbing, it's not going up that's the problem. It's getting back down that scares the life out of people. Why? Because when you're going up you're looking up at the sky, and up at your next moves, and you're focusing on what you have to do next. When it's time to go back down, you're looking down at the ground far beneath you and you're focusing on how darn high up you are off the ground!

Focus on the job you have to do, not the consequences of anything. You'll be just fine.

Thanks so much for setting up this site, Brett. You and the other vets have been so helpful on my quest to become a driver. I'll do my best to remain confident in my abilities.

Unholy, I see you went with Schneider as well. Stupid question, its mostly pointless, but I still want to ask: Do all the rookies get a white truck? For some reason I really want an orange one. (Favorite color, would make me feel totally cool cruising down the roads in a bright orange tractor.)

Good luck tomorrow. Follow Brett's advice and you will be fine.

Let us know how your day went.

Safe travels,

Scot

I leave for Charlotte, NC tomorrow for my first driving job, and my nerves are all jacked up. Its the first job I've ever driven more than an hour for (made house calls as an HVAC tech) and I've never been to Charlotte before.

Hey Matthew- Congratulations for making it to your own truck! I live outside of Charlotte so just a word of advice. Keep your eyes on the other cars and keep a large following distance. The highways going into Charlotte will be just flowing along and then you will round a corner onto 3-4 lanes of stopped traffic ( and you are still outside the city). It bottlenecks with no warning so be prepared. Read your signs to get where you are going and take your time. It is not a bad city to drive in if you have a little patience and watch the traffic around you. You can do it! 🙌👊🖒