Starting Truck Driving School In A Few Weeks.

First I would like to say hello to you all because I'm new to the forum. I have my permit and I'm not concerned about studying the rest of the way to obtain my CDL because I will put in the effort. However, I'm very nervous about learning to drive a 80,000 pound truck and trailer. I'm not ashamed to admit this either. I've already learned how to straight back from someone that owns a truck, but I'm nervous about the offset and 90 degree backing. "Never tried" Also the final road test. I've been told with repetition I will be okay. "I was very humbled and had a ton of respect for you all when I was learning to straight back" I want to enter school going "full force" so to speak to make sure I'm successful. I've considered this move for a long time and clearly don't want to fail. Any and all insight in regards to my nervousness would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Generally speaking the angle backing is the hardest thing to learn. Continue with the studying of the material on this website so that it will be one less thing to concentrate on so you can focus on the driving skills.

Don’t psych yourself out.

You’ll do fine

First I would like to say hello to you all because I'm new to the forum. I have my permit and I'm not concerned about studying the rest of the way to obtain my CDL because I will put in the effort. However, I'm very nervous about learning to drive a 80,000 pound truck and trailer. I'm not ashamed to admit this either. I've already learned how to straight back from someone that owns a truck, but I'm nervous about the offset and 90 degree backing. "Never tried" Also the final road test. I've been told with repetition I will be okay. "I was very humbled and had a ton of respect for you all when I was learning to straight back" I want to enter school going "full force" so to speak to make sure I'm successful. I've considered this move for a long time and clearly don't want to fail. Any and all insight in regards to my nervousness would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

If you weren't nervous you would be stupid and that would terrify a trainer lol

I never drove a manual and learned to drive a big rig on one.... Most are autos now so you may have an easier time. And breathe and calm lol

Good luck we are here

The key is to focus on learning, not on your performance.

Whether you're in the truck or watching someone else in the truck, learn from each moment. We all get very nervous if we focus on getting an excellent result while doing something we're no good at. You won't get excellent results unless you get lucky because you're no good at driving or backing a truck yet. That's perfectly fine. That's how it is for everyone in the beginning.

Instead of focusing on your results, focus on learning. Each time you learn something new, it will improve your results later on.

Remember, failure is the best teacher. When you or someone you're watching does something wrong, make sure you understand why it went wrong and what would have produced better results.

Getting a great result is not the goal during this phase of the game, learning is the goal. Every time you learn something you've succeeded, regardless of the result you've gotten from the attempt. So with each attempt just try to relax, give it your best shot, evaluate everything that happened, take lessons from it, then take another shot.

When it comes time to test you still may not feel ready, but you will be ready. Trust yourself. Be confident.

If you want school we highly recommend Paid CDL Training Programs. There are companies like CFI not in there.

By going that route, they invest in you and give you more leeway.

Good luck.

Thanks to all of you for your insight I really appreciate it. I'm the type if I really care about something I will give110 %. I think a lot of my nerves are fear of failure, embarrassment, and certainly not making a mistake that could injure or worse to others. I know I must take this seriously, but maybe I should try to stay humble and learn to laugh at my mistakes "while still correcting them" and support my class mates. Like Brett said "Stay confident" Thanks again.

I'm a very nervous person by nature unfortunately, I almost quit school because I thought I was the worst student they ever had. Especially when it came to shifting I was my own worse enemy 1 mistake and I would fall apart lucky I had great instructors who made sure I didn't fail, that and not worrying about everyone else just doing my thing.

Now 3 years later I'm ranked in the top 150 out of like 15000 drivers at OD.

Brian... Check out my blog articles. I talk a lot about my screwups.... Including when I knocked an axle off a trailer and also when I almost rolled the truck while parked.

Kearsey aka Rainys blog articles

Thanks Trucking along with Kearsey, I will definitely take a look at your blog articles. Bobcat Bob thanks. I was born in Joliet Illinois and lived in Braidwood for about 5 years when I was a small child. Are you from Joliet?

I was born and raised in Niles moved to Joliet in 2017.