Profile For George K.

Bret I have to agree with you 100% As a new driver I always try to adjust to our new lifestyle on the road and I always listen to your advice

It seems everything you do in trucking involves risk management. I mean, when are truckers ever doing anything that isn't life or death? Laundry and napping - that's about it.

Otherwise you're driving or you're surrounded by complete strangers in far off places and you're handling every last responsibility yourself. You're even sleeping in some strange parking lot in someone else's truck surrounded by strangers in other trucks everyday of your life. That's a lot of unknowns you're dealing with and a lot of important decisions you're making 24/7 for weeks at a time.

It's really impossible to convey what that lifestyle is like to someone who has never experienced it. That's why, to be super real about the whole rookie thing, nobody with experience in the trucking industry thinks much of a driver until they've been doing the job for a little while. Because you can almost teach the driving part to a monkey. It's the mental part that defines the job. The mental part is impossible to really teach and yet it's the most difficult part of the job. So all you can really do is tell people to prepare for it like you would going into the Army. Expect there to be a lot of ups and downs, a lot of stress, and an endless stream of life or death decisions. You can't even afford one moment of inattention or one bad decision for ten or more hours a day.

Not many people can handle that and you won't really know if you can until you've done it for a while. So it's kinda like you teach people the regulations, you teach them how to drive, then you send em out there on the road and see what happens. It's pretty much a shocking lifestyle change for everyone. Some people adapt and thrive, others don't.

Be humble, keep an open mind, roll with things, and have fierce determination. Trucking is not for everyone but it's certainly worth taking a shot.