So Scared

I’m at the very beginning of my journey. Just reading, studying, investigating, and educating myself on all of this. I really do feel like I’m ready to finally move forward and take the plunge. I’m going to begin to seriously looking into schools now. The thing I’m worried about is the driving part. I have always been in awe of watching truck drivers maneuver the big trailers. Turning, backing up, shifting gears, pushing on the brakes everything! Lol I’m SO afraid that I’m going to be the laughing stock at the school though. I don’t know anything about trucks and how they work...yet. I’m just afraid people are going to make fun of me and I’m going to embarrass myself during the training portion. Can y’all give me some of your personal stories of what you went through when you were first starting out and learning? Is it a cruel world out there at the schools or do the instructors have a lot of patience?

Welcome to the forum! Have you taken a look at these links?

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road CDL Training Program
• CDL Practice Tests

Don't worry about not knowing anything about trucks. A majority of people get to truck driving school and thats the first time they've ever been inside a truck. The schools are there to teach you a bare minimum to pass your CDL test. If you follow their directions you shouldn't have a problem passing. For pre-trip they'll give you a print-out with what part you're inspecting, and what defects you're looking for. Its just memorizing and for most people thats the most difficult. For your skills (backing) you'll be walked through how to do each maneuver. Itll tell you something like crank wheel hard right until you see a certain spot of your trailer in your mirror. Stop. Turn hard left etc. Drive test isn't too difficult as most schools take you out to the road course and get plenty of practice on it. Millions of people that have never touched a truck yet their CDL. So can you! Many instructors teach because they enjoy helping people. As long as you put forth effort and take the training serious I don't think you'll have problems. Are you thinking about attending a Paid CDL Training Programs

I'm currently enrolled in a company-sponsored trucking school and you shouldn't be worried about looking silly. We ALL are going to make mistakes during the training period and I'm sure while out in the real world driving. The biggest point of trucking schools (other than obtaining your CDL) is to make sure your mistakes aren't safety mistakes that cause an accident.

I personally have stalled the truck more times than I could count my first week. I've crushed cones and even asked some pretty stupid questions in class LOL (I conveniently left those out of my training diary LOL)

I'm in class with a 42-year-old man that has never looked under the hood of his own car let alone a semi-truck. So he struggled for 5-7 days learning the pre-trip because he had no idea what he was looking at or being able to relate part names to certain parts of the vehicle i.e. suspension, brakes, etc. He overcame that and is now performing the whole pre-trip with passing accuracy.

If this industry excites you and is what you want to do, go for it!!! If it's a passion, you'll succeed!

You actually posted in our diaries section. Read through several of these posts and see what you think. I promise you nobody will laugh at you.

I run a CDL school. I just posted my experience as CDL instructor. Look for the tropic "From the Front of the Classroom". Nearly all the others in this Training Diaries section are written by fellow students who have more or less survived CDL school.

I have had students that tell me they are nervous about driving an 18 wheeler, but when they get behind the wheel for their first on-road drive, they find it's not all that scary.

Thanks for sharing that. That’s what i wanted to hear. I’ll check out your post!

I run a CDL school. I just posted my experience as CDL instructor. Look for the tropic "From the Front of the Classroom". Nearly all the others in this Training Diaries section are written by fellow students who have more or less survived CDL school.

I have had students that tell me they are nervous about driving an 18 wheeler, but when they get behind the wheel for their first on-road drive, they find it's not all that scary.

Oops, did I post this question in the wrong forum? See, I’m already messing up. Lol

You actually posted in our diaries section. Read through several of these posts and see what you think. I promise you nobody will laugh at you.

You will be fine. Read the diaries and there is a really good article on the clown circus of school. We all feel that way, and we all get nervous. Id highly recommend diving in to the links that were posted above. This site has a wealth of information that is beyond value. Id really look at company sponsored or provided training rather than a private school for many reasons.

Paid CDL Training Programs

• Trucker's Career Guide: Choosing Your First Truck Driving Job
• Article Category: Finding The Right Truck Driving Job
• Forum Topics Tagged "Choosing A Trucking Company"

Im not doing it justice, hopefully one of the folks that have been here a while will be by to chime in, but there are a ton of good reasons to choose company sponsored or provided training.

I’m at the very beginning of my journey. Just reading, studying, investigating, and educating myself on all of this. I really do feel like I’m ready to finally move forward and take the plunge. I’m going to begin to seriously looking into schools now. The thing I’m worried about is the driving part. I have always been in awe of watching truck drivers maneuver the big trailers. Turning, backing up, shifting gears, pushing on the brakes everything! Lol I’m SO afraid that I’m going to be the laughing stock at the school though. I don’t know anything about trucks and how they work...yet. I’m just afraid people are going to make fun of me and I’m going to embarrass myself during the training portion. Can y’all give me some of your personal stories of what you went through when you were first starting out and learning? Is it a cruel world out there at the schools or do the instructors have a lot of patience?

Howdy, SB5 and welcome to TT !! Great place, for real, I know~!!

I've been a trucker's wife for 20 years, and had almost a FULL YEAR with my husband, pulling tanks. (CDLP.) Never did get my full CDLA due to the kids needing me home. My youngest will be 18 in January 2022, and my hope & dream is to go for it myself...again, but for REAL~!!!

If you look at PJ's avatar, I used to drive a Peterbilt like that, w/my guy; pulling a similar tank. It was awesome. It was a 10 speed. Once you get behind the wheel, the fear factor fades.

The above links the guys posted for you are awesome. You should take the time and go through each of them! At the bottom of this page is ALSO a link to Brett's podcasts, if you could perhaps listen to them while you (currently) work.

Lastly, our own Kearsey (moderator here) has a wealth of information in her videos, on YouTube.

You can find them, here:

Truckin Along with Kearsey

She's awesome! She trained with Prime, start to finish ... and is a trainer there, now. Company PAID training, as we here at Trucking Truth, ALWAYS recommend.

I wish you well in your pursuit of this profession.

~ Anne ~