Thank You All!

I have just started this adventure, Driving Truck, and I want to tell you all how much I appreciate your discussions, your advice and all that is happening here.

I would like to think my nature lends itself toward following the advice I continually see being offered. And perhaps I would like to say that my plan when entering this new phase, be it patience, the plan to accept what comes, are leading the way to the peace I feel with the new things coming.

But I really feel that it is much more a result of all of the discussion and input I see on this site.

I successfully tested through the CDL permit, largely as a result of the High Road Training on this site. During Truck Driver Training my instructor occassionally joked when I recited FMCSR details where he (as an examiner) would accept less precise answers. (Play in belt less than ... , Steering Wheel turns less than ... ) The High Road Training process, questions and review mechanism have drilled the details in deep. And the additional information, Log Book, Weight & Balance, Cargo, though not necessary for the written test add to that foundation.
It is nice!

I had a discussion with my recruiter today. And found her talking about miles and miles the company hopes to provide and the rookie driver’s miles vs experienced driver miles. I mentioned to her that I expected the company had more loads and more miles than they had drivers to successfully move them and that this, for me, is really an issue of figuring out how I could safely drive as many miles as possible to help the company, and myself.
The recruiter confirmed that they do generally have more miles and loads than drivers. And she stepped back and complimented me on my attitude, my perspective.
In thinking about it, (and wishing to take all of the credit myself... [of course I’m such a wonderful person... ])

I came away realizing just how much this site is shaping me and shaping the way I am thinking. Many of the things my recruiter and I discussed today were directly related to things I have read on this site. New Drivers, Orientation, Training, Miles, Pay, and more. I find that I have few questions for the recruiter as I have heard and seen how the process works, through this website. I tend to ask general questions that confirm my understanding is correct, but because of the discussions here I have an underlying sense that I can wait and let the process play out as it will. I have come in to a belief that all is well and there are not many (if any) surprises up ahead.

All of this has made life much easier on my recruiter and truly much easier on me as well.

I have seen others, who I would generally consider rather easy going, much more uncertain and much less patient with the process. Perhaps entirely because they are not reading TruckingTruth.
And Yes, I am telling many whom I speak with that they must connect with this website.

Thank you all for the wonderful advice and discussions. It is so very timely and entlightening!

That was a fantastic read and it's very gratifying to hear. Everything we teach about how the trucking industry works and how a new driver should approach their career is almost completely the opposite of what you'll find elsewhere on the Web, so I know there are a lot of skeptical people who figure we must have the wrong approach.

But I believe that being successful at anything in life that is risky and complex is a process which is very similar no matter what the endeavor. It requires:

• Patience
• Humility
• Hard work
• An open mind
• The ability to operate outside of your comfort zone
• A willingness to listen
• A willingness to prove yourself over time

Anyone who has been through a tough learning process in other areas of life, including sports, the business world, academics, and the military will recognize that the things we teach have held true in their other endeavors.

I have been told many, many times by the people who run various Paid CDL Training Programs that the people who come to them through Trucking Truth are far better prepared, have a much better understanding of how to approach their career, and have a much higher success rate than those who haven't been exposed to what we teach.

I came away realizing just how much this site is shaping me and shaping the way I am thinking

That's the toughest and most important thing we try to accomplish. Everyone worries about shifting and backing and choosing that "special gem" of a company, when in reality none of that is nearly as important as understanding the learning process, having the right attitude, putting in the hard work, and developing good relationships with the office personnel at your company.

While everyone else is misleading folks into thinking they have to look out for "bad companies," we're teaching people that success in trucking will be based upon your performance, your work ethic, and your attitude. For people who never get anywhere in life the blame game resonates with them. For those who know what it takes to be successful in life, our approach is something they've experienced in other areas of their life so it resonates with them.

That's why I think the people who come through this site have far more success than those who don't. Not only are we giving them the tools they'll need to succeed, but they're better quality people with better life experiences to begin with. That's why they're here learning from us instead of elsewhere on the Web listening to the wrong people.

That was a fantastic read and it's very gratifying to hear.

I completely agree with Brett's remarks.

Each of the people he has chosen in here to be moderators have all demonstrated success in other areas of life before they became truckers. Each of us contribute our time voluntarily, and while I can't speak for each of them, for me it is extremely gratifying to realize when one of our members is "getting it." We have a lot of people come and go as we spend time mentoring them in here. I always get a kick when somebody from the past just randomly pops in here to let us know they're "still trucking, and loving every minute of it."

I enjoy teaching this stuff, but I've never really wanted to be a trainer, mentoring one individual at a time on my truck. That day may come, but for now I've had the pleasure of reaching a much larger group of individuals by participating here on Brett's website. It provides me a much larger audience than I could ever hope to teach or influence as an individual trainer. And besides, it's much more entertaining for me to get to interact with each of you on a regular basis.