I am really struggling with driving in general. I am also struggling as a new trucker. I've only been off my trainer's truck for about 2 weeks now. And yet I just can't seem to get a load in on time and plan right. On top of that, I stupidly volunteered for a touch freight account and completely blew it. I was able to deliver a few loads and able to unload. But I just wasn't ready for the actual driving. Today they sent me into a city and I just froze. There were cars on both sides of my truck and I was on a very narrow Street. I ended up having to take the load back because I just couldn't get over my fear and make a turn. I did not want to hit somebody and I just did not feel experienced enough to back into a dock off a busy street.

I have learned a lot. I can back better than I have in a long time I have to admit, I got into some pretty tight situations and got right back out of them. But my nerves are just starting to get the best of me. I don't want to quit, that is not my goal at all. I was wondering if this was normal. Do all rookie drivers struggle this much? I know the company has something to do with the treatment. I understand that I'm not going to be treated like a princess. But I just feel like I've been thrown to the wolves and expected to make these moves that no driver should make after only being on their own for a few days. I guess I'm looking for encouragement. I'm questioning whether or not things are going to get better. Very torn on whether or not to call it quits or just keep Truckin. I really do not want to quit though.

I am about to team up with a friend of mine. I think that will alleviate a lot of fear because I don't like working alone. But I want to just get an idea of how others struggled or at least be told by somebody whether this is normal or not. Either way thank you for whoever reads this and whoever replies.

During my company training, I was expected to run my clock out every day and do the majority of driving, backing, Qualcomm macros, paperwork/scanning and to learn how to trip plan and manage my time to run a truck efficiently. That's what training was for.

I have no clue what company you drive for or what kind of training you got, but at my smaller (550 trucks) company, we are expected to be able to run our truck efficiently from day one solo.. we simply cannot afford to have drivers who aren't productive. Some of the mega carriers are a bit more forgiving initially than my employer.

Maybe you need to request more training because it sounds like you're on a path of doom.

Did you go into cities with your trainer? I was in all kinds of tight driving situations. Just use your mirrors and slow down. Speed limits are the max you can go. Stay away from touch frieght until you are a confident operator. Sounds like you had a DG account. The worst thing for a rookie. Good luck.

This was posted 3 months ago so I hope you’ve improved or at the very least are making progress. Obviously you have the skill necessary to drive your rig, otherwise you would’ve never passed the road test. That said, your issue is confidence. The many diaries & comments I’ve read on here are about perseverance. It’s about challenging yourself to face the many issues you’re going be confronted with in this first year on your own. To get past the jitters of handling the rig, you have to keep at it. You have to keep working at trip planning. You said you didn’t want to give up so I hope teaming with your friend will give you the confidence boost to get through this hiccup. Good luck & God bless.