When A Rookie Thinks Like A Truck Driver.

Rainy replies:

Awww you guys are making me blush... but I learned frim this site lol. I read for awhile before ever posting. I open my big mouth because I saw other rookies posting what they did.... it helped me not be so intimidated. If they could do it.. then so could I. Sometimes when you see experienced drivers post a rookie thinks "yeah... easy for you.. you got 20 years in."

Mr T ... so cool swift is like that. Prime is too... makes a HUGE difference in a company

Give yourself a pat on the back Rainy...I know veteran drivers who have yet to figured out there is more to this job than keeping the beast between the whites. You get it and like so many other performing first year drivers on here, are setting a great example for the next set of tire kickers.

Yes, this is self.promotion

Early on G Town gave me the biggest compliment regarding my posting of time management. The comment itself is pretty good and valuable info for rookies.

Commit this to memory!

If you want to be successful at anything that is difficult, dangerous, and complex like trucking there are a few qualities you need to have, and at the very top of that list are:

• Humility
• Ambition
• Resilience

Anyone who has followed the journeys of our most successful and experienced drivers has witnessed all of these qualities in each of them. They all strive continuously to be the best they can possibly be, and it shows. We call these types Top Tier Drivers and they all have proven beyond a doubt that your happiness and success in this industry is not based on the company you drive for, but on your performance as a driver. That is the core principle we teach here at Trucking Truth and I hope it's something all new drivers keep in mind throughout their first year in trucking.

Totally agree with this about getting as far as you can the first day. Never know if you're going to have a tire issue, traffic issue like an accident you have to sit in. In eight months I've had three different dispatchers. Two were promoted to load planners, my current one was demoted from a load planner to a dispatcher and I have had some issues with him. But one thing I wanted to show all of them was that that I would run the miles. My trainer knew that I would because I did it with him. Still remember my first day... I drove 500 miles and my arms and shoulders and neck we're in agony but I wasn't about to show it to him. But he could tell. He kept asking me are you okay and I said yep. I took a lot of ibuprofen during training... so now a 600 plus mile day is nothing for me. I expect to do it as long as conditions and situations allow it.