The reason I’m sharing our personal experiences with this is to help people understand the truly tension-packed environment at truck driving school, and how it may affect your spouse. Everyone’s marriage is different, so everyone’s experience will be unique, but there will be common issues for sure. And things will pop up that you never even considered. I’m being completely, 100% honest here, because I don’t think glossing over the tough stuff would be very helpful!

This is a summary of what I’ve learned from many experienced truckers on TruckingTruth, plus the perspective I’ve gained as my husband went through the classroom training during August-September, 2009.

Randy was SO excited the last time I talked to him because after a change of plans, he and his trainer are now going to Mira Loma, CA first. And they get to drive past Las Vegas at night, which sounds really cool! He knows he’s going to be working really hard and be busy learning new things, but there is a “vacation” element to this, for him.

I love being a truck driver, and certainly plan on doing this for a while. I’ve also found that as my experience grows, my enjoyment also continues to grow. I’m still considered a rookie with only 8 months experience, but the little experience I have is already paying off.

I have to admit there have been times, during the first 3 weeks of this experience, where I began to feel that the entire trucking industry might be orchestrated by a bunch of mad scientists conducting some kind of evil psychological experiment. And we (the students, drivers and their families) are their human guinea pigs. Seriously though, it’s been a wild little ride so far, and I’m sure that will continue. Here’s more……

Last week was National Truck Driver Appreciation Week. It certainly was nice to feel appreciated for a week. The list of sacrifices that drivers make can go on and on for days. Most of the sacrifices can’t be explained in words, they simply have to be experienced to truly be understood.

Truck driver training usually involves a lot of pressure. The intensity of the experience is part of what made it so special for him. He quickly formed a very close bond with many of his fellow students, and they are a diverse bunch of characters whom he never would have come to know so well under other circumstances.

Randy sounded a bit odd when I talked to him today. For the past several days, he has mentioned feeling trapped and restless, and anxious to begin training. I suspected it was just a reaction to all that he had been through, combined with elation from his success, which can be just as overwhelming as the constant anxiety and tension.

Wow, what a day. I stayed up all night to email some last-minute requested unemployment records and Randy called me from school today with the results of his driving test….

I felt a little tense today, wondering if Randy passed his pre-trip test. He’s been doing so well up to this point that I hardly even feel nervous about his road test tomorrow, but students have been dropping out of school like crazy, so I’m still rather concerned.

A week and a half into training and the fast pace continues. They are out driving more, which is great, but the quizzes and the pressure of their CDL training remains a constant.

As hard as you think becoming a truck driver will be, it’s even harder. All the stress has made me lose 10 lbs since we started packing for school a few weeks ago.

Sometimes you’re put in a position as a driver where you just can’t win. One day I was leaving the shipper with a heavy load and was pulled over to see if my weight was legal. Problem was, I never got a chance to weight it myself - they nailed me on the way to the scale. What is a driver supposed to do?

We’re into the second week of trucking school and things are still moving along very quickly!

Well, it’s been one week since Randy arrived in Utah, and what a week it’s been. While it went by fast for him, it felt more like a month to me.