Morale Killer

So I have been solo for about two weeks now and feel like ive been doing and okay job so far. Today I was near Dayton Ohio leaving the plant, theres a right turn lane a lane in the middle to go straight and a left turn lane. I was in the left turn lane waiting for the light to turn green once the light turns green i go to turn into and as all of you know I have to swing into the opposite lane to make my turn and not hit the median well as im crossing into the other lane while making my turn a truck from the center (straight lane) came to the right of me and i quickly jerked left and hit the brakes barley missing him causing my trailer to just touch the sign on the end of the median ( no damage to the sign or the trailer barely even touch the edge of the sign) so i backed up a little away from the sign and finished making my turn. It was a real morale killer and ive been dwelling on it all day. Did I do something wrong? was there something I could of done better?

This is not necessarily about doing something wrong. You are new to this, and made a mistake. You will make many more. Accept this as fact and also establish an understanding of lessons learned.

My suggestion is not to ask us the question, but to ask yourself the question; “how could I prevent this type of event in the future?” What could you have done to anticipate this, and how can you get better at situational awareness so proactive adjustments are made as opposed to reactive adjustments.

The good news; no damage except perhaps your ego. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Try to learn from it.

As G-town said. Don’t beat yourself up about it but keep it in your mind. You WILL make mistakes out here. I’m happy that it was minor and no damage. IMO it’s a good wake up call to remind you how quick things can go wrong out here. Complacency is a killer and (mostly )all of us DO get too complacent out here. Keep on truckin driver. You got this

Ron, if you catch the drift here, even making the mistake you made it's not really a big deal. True, mistakes are mistakes. But it's also true that rookie drivers will have a few boo boos as they gain experience.

In my first few months driving for Swift, I backed up to a warehouse door in a way that tore a hole in the sheet metal warehouse wall. I figured That Was IT for my driving career. No, I did have to talk with the Safety office, but I could keep on driving. And you know what? I am now an "expert" on backing a truck next to a warehouse. Ron, you already have become that kind if expert about left turns.

I'm probably beating a dead horse but I'm just gonna go ahead emphasize the whole "don't beat yourself up over it thing" anyway. The couple months out here I beat myself up for every little mistake I made and it stressed me out so bad I almost quit this industry, I didn't even make it a whole 3 month's at my first trucking job becuase of how much things like what you did got to me, let it go move on you will do dumb things, it's gonna happen. Anybody on here who says they haven't is a liar, you didn't tear anything up and will hopefully have better situational awareness when making complicated turns next time.