Passed State Exam!

Just wanted to share! Couldn't have done it without the help of the beloved staff & friendly members of this great site. Thank you everyone for answering any questions I had along the way & keeping my head in the game when the going got tough.

You guys are the best!

NICE... Good for you C-Mac,...congratulations! Now the real fun begins!

Hey congrats man! That's awesome!

Told ya not to worry.

Congrats man! I knew you could do it!

Whoop whoop! Go Charlie! That is such awesome news. Have fun out with your trainer and stay safe!

Congrats!

Great to hear. Congrats C-Mac!

Nice Job Charlie!

Look man, there are so many things out here on the road that you have absolutely no control over. It's a little crazy because so many guys become truckers because they are Type A personalities, and they want to do this because they are attracted to this career because they think they can have total control over the way they do their job. It's a job that is suited for the individually motivated type person, but they have got to recognize that they have little to no authority - we are the lowest man on the totem pole in the whole corporate structure of trucking companies. Don't get me wrong, we, as drivers, are an important piece of the complicated puzzle, but when it comes to authority we are pretty much limited to being able to decide when it is unsafe for us to drive.

You got a little taste of this with your experience at testing. Some crazy four-wheeler did something near your truck and it cost you a passing score - when you had nothing to do with what was going on! Stuff happens, and brother trust me, stuff happens everyday out here on the road. You just have to learn to deal with it and not let it get to you. There are a lot of miserable guys in trucking, just strike up a conversation with some of them at the lunch counter in a truck stop and you will find out what I'm talking about. I don't want the folks who come through and spend some time at this web site to end up in that subculture of people. This is a great career with some really cool rewards, I love every minute that I'm out here. I break the rules of what most folks consider to be the normal way you go about this career, and I have had great success at it. There is a driver for another company that goes to one of the same customers that I have up in Connecticut, and on occasion we end up there at the same time. Recently he said to me, "This is the third time I have tried my best to get here before you so that I didn't have to wait until they unloaded you." He will probably never be able to accomplish his goal because he is apparently unwilling to sleep on the premises. They start work at around seven a.m. - the particular time I'm speaking of he showed up at around 5:30 a.m. only to discover me backed in to the unloading area with my tarps off and ready to be unloaded! I arrived at ten o'clock the night before and got myself ready to unload before I got some shut-eye.

I have a unique situation that doesn't work for everyone to emulate, but each of you can learn and develop his own secrets and tricks for success at this stuff. Use your head and figure out how to be efficient at this stuff. Let the little stuff roll off your back and concentrate on being wildly successful at what you do have control over - things like your time management and your driving times. Learn to maximize your miles by being efficient with your deliveries and productivity. Once a dispatcher sees that you are one of the special few who seems to understand the way of success at this he will reward you with all the work you can possibly handle.

Thanks everyone! Great advice (as always) Old School.

Thank you for taking the time to articulate a realistic way to look at the industry & regulate expectations. I intend to make the most of my adventures & hopefully share a few of them with y'all along the way!