Comments By Joshua C.

I will be registering for CDL school on Thursday but classes won't start until September 14. At this point I am not sure how much more I can research. More studying yes. I have read through my states CDL manual and have been taking tests online and going through tests on TT.

My concern is the nerves and fear. Does it ever end. Not only the fear of the test and learning everything but the fear of failure as a whole. My wife and kids rely on me as the provider and the fear of failure doesn't go away no matter how much I resear and no matter how much positive reinforcement I have been getting from other drivers I have talked to. Maybe I am working myself up with the fear and making it worse on myself I don't know. But I can't shake it. One day I am ok and solid in my decision and one day I am like can you really do this but you can't let them down by failing.

I do like driving but like I told my wife, road trips with her and the kids are just ok but in a previous job doing deliver by car or pick up truck I truly loved and looked so forward to. Although the farthest I drove in one sitting was from York PA to Foxwoods resort in CT. I loved it. Nobody in my ear just me on the road and the radio playing. Peaceful.

Am I getting myself overly worked up or is this normal? 20 months of research and countless talks with other drivers every chance I got. All tell me I can do this and go for it you will love it. Now to shake my own personal fear of failure.

Sorry if I sound like some whiny brat.

I think it's perfectly normal. Be prepared for it to be extremely challenging, because it will be. And the fact that your persevering in spite of the fear is a victory in and of itself if you ask me. I went into this expecting it to be super hard and prepared mentally to give it all I had. It's hard but it's fun to. It's actually fun being a student in some ways.

This job isn't for most people so if you decide it's not for you, I wouldn't beat yourself over it. I love driving this big rig. Love it. But man, west Virginia sucks when your fully loaded. I started getting annoyed after climbing and then descending hill after hill after hill after hill etc etc etc. And the fun part is while descending with the jake brake on and in a lower gear, you have curve after curve after curve. Then climb hill after hill after hill etc etc etc. Man I'm tired

I pulled a trailer from Conover, NC to Sayreville, NJ. When I got there, I backed into the dock and took my paperwork in. They were pretty happy to see me. Seems the previous guy had pulled the wrong trailer (two numbers transposed on the trailer), EMPTY, all the way from Conover to Sayreville and didn't realize until he opened the doors at the destination.

The receiver said he was pretty proud of himself for making it on time until he opened the doors of the trailer....

Man that would have sucked.

Oh I should have read more carefully, you caught the mistake before leaving. Never mind

I hooked the wrong trailer once (numbers were the same and in almost the same order); had everything ready to go, but caught my mistake when double-checking the trailer number. It was a bit of a wake up call to always, always double check everything. A fellow driver once picked up the wrong set of paperwork and drove 250 miles to destination; consignee refused the load; he had to pull the load all the way back. One whole day wasted, not to mention the embarrassment.

It's all good. I'm surprised the guard didn't catch it. Does your company do a live loaded call? Prime you have to every time you depart shipper. They ask trailer and address to where your heafef. Either way, even though I haven't yet and don't plan on it, I've for sure have made some mistakes. Trust me on that.

And I can only speak for myself, but those first couple weeks or so solo were rough. I was slow at everything. Parking can be a pain for sure. I usually luck out one way or another it seems. If I'm real tired, I'll park it any space I can find at a truck stop or rest stop. No one has ever told me to move yet

Well i am finally a solo driver. It has been a long road to get here learning wise and i know ill learn more everyday. Im actually on my 3rd solo load right now. My first load was from Wisconsin to Indiana, and thankfully there was a nice prime driver to help me get backed in to the dock lol. I had trouble because the way i parked screwed my set up. So he spotted for me. My second load was an egg farm and i had to drive a 70 ft rig down some roads that i know werent made for it. Slow and steady is all i have to say if i had been going fast i think i would have taken out that stop sign and the telephone pole lol. Now im off to New Jersey. I really hope they have overnight parking at this receiver or im gonna be in trouble with trying to manage this time thing. That is honestly the biggest problem i am having with trucking. Well that and directions but the directions should be fixed soon.

No shame in that. I had to do the same thing for awhile, have someone spot me while backing. You know something I learned about the cualcomm gps we have is that it almost takes you right to where you need to go everytime. Something that helped me out was when im about 5-10 miles away from where I was supposed to, I turn the volume up. My trainer always had it muted and I never knew it would tell you your destination was on the left or right. My rand mcnally gps will usually get me right in the vicinity, but the cualcomm almost always takes me to where the guard shack is.

I go to a yard that's next door to the BNSF in Stockton, CA a ton. Lots of Schneider and JB Hunt there. I hear good things about those jobs, just be extremely careful at those ports and the bay area driving. You got this without a doubt!

Daniel are you dispatched out of salt lake city? I'm going to be moving out west and would love to run that area asap. We don't have any dedicated out there do we?

Good job buddy

Thanks all for the replies so far. The more information I can obtain the better I will be in the long run.

And I can never have to much information and insight

Kind of like jujitsu and wrestling, trucking is a hands on sport. I read everything I could on this site and most nights I went to sleep thinking I wouldn't do it after something I read or some kind of thought or vision I saw in my head. But the call to adventure, which is what trucking really is, is a powerful one. I've felt sheer bliss so so many days in this job. It's actually surpassed my expectations so far as to how much I'd enjoy it. Surprisingly so. I like my space, I enjoy having a new adventure everyday, I enjoy the views, the peace, and the solitude. It's a great feeling to finally after months of driving, feel like you have a handle on how to control and maneuver these awesome trucks. Nothing beats being assigned a nice new truck. There are days, hours and timeswhere it feels like a grind, but what job doesn't at some point or sometimes? I've brought home after taxes and benefits over a thousand dollars in one week 8 times already and I've only been driving 7 months. 7 months of 7 days a week over the road for 10-12 hour days though. The money gets better and better each year you gain experience. After this year is up, I'm going to get something local where I'm home a lot more but I'd still like to do some otr trips here and there. After a couple months on your own when everything gets easier as you become more proficient, it really starts to become fun and you know you've acquired a skill. Trucking should without a doubt be considered a skilled trade/profession. I read in Canada it is considered one. All I can say is yes you'll be nervous in the beginning. Yes you will make mistakes and some things will seem almost unattainable. But if your an adventurer at heart and want to see places that most people pay thousands of dollars to see and visit, then it will all seem worthwhile . Be ready for your world to turn upside down for awhile.

I lived in san antonio texas for 9 years and I never came close to seeing snow. I've lived in tampa, florida for about 5 years now and the winters are the reason why I've stayed I think. There isn't one. I've lived in 2 different places and neither one of them even had a heater. I had to bust out the portable heater 2 times maybe 3 for the entire winter. I like the Florida heat better then the Texas dry heat. It seems to be personal preference but both places are the best during the winter. I think Texans are much easier to become friendly with then floridians.

the 3 winters I have spent in San Antonio have not had any snow either but the surrounding hill country has gotten some the last 2 years. I would not say San Antonio is a dry heat... not anymore at least. This summer we have averaged about 65-80% humidity almost every day since March. I have lived in dry heat climates and I even lived in Houston (almost always 90+% humidity) and trust me san antonio is not a dry heat, point of fact I was just in arizona and so cal back in may... much much different climate. I know florida is the champion of humidity though.

It's been to long since I have lived in FL and I was just a young child back then so I can't comment on their friendliness. Texans are kind of different. I have found a lot of them have over inflated heads and think everything about Texas is great... when so many of them have never even been outside of the state or only been to one or two others. I also really hate the drivers here, it drives me nuts every day I have to put up with them and I think san antonio is the worst, I swear it seems like most drivers here never learned how to drive, the stupidity level is un measurable it's so high.

I would really like to live in Asheville, NC or Front Royal, VA if I couldn't live in california again, but cost of living in Asheville is quite high, don't know about Front Royal. Those are both places I worked in last year in AmeriCorps, great experiences and created lasting positive memories, including a team mate of mine that I didn't like getting stung 13 times (in 1 stinging session) by a yellow jacket nest... she was a royal b to me and some others on my team so the way I see it... Karma... I never did get along with her and she's one of only a few people I ever really disliked in AmeriCorps, but that's going into another story :)

I wasn't necessarily inferring that Floridians were unfriendly per se. I just got along better in texas. I like florida weather better