How long did it take you to learn your job? I don't mean how to drive the truck, but how to really feel like you knew what you were doing? Where you didn't have to work three times as hard as you had to because you didn't do it right the first time? When did you feel like you had it figured out, where you didn't get lost, and things moved smoothly? Any job is tough at first, and second-guessing yourself is just human nature. We all want to do well and feel competent, but let's face it, they call them "rookie mistakes" because rookies do tons and tons of them. When did you feel like you moved past the rookie stage?

I dont think any one ever really learns the job and then considers done with learning or feeling comfortable. I think we learn something new each and every day.

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I like my job. Nah not really. I'm just crazy

I understand that you never really feel like you know everything that there is to know and that you are always learning. But when do you stop feeling like you are a complete idiot and maybe you made a bad career change?

It took me about a year and 1/2 and its not like some DING Light bulb turns on thing, i just remember that one day i was backing into a space and got it in one shot and i sat there for a second, and i was looking around and thinking wow i might be getting the hang of this

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There are Old Truckers and there are Bold Truckers, But there are no Old Bold Truckers.

I can tell you that in my time to date (9months) probably over nine months!
You can be sailing along thinking I finally got it, backing, driving, paperwork, etc... then one day out of the blue you make a stupid error and start feeling like an idiot all over again. Isn't that what makes life interesting and exciting.
Let's all just keep learning from our mistakes.
Peace Out

i am a rookie driver myself and i recently was talking to a driver who had 39 years driving experience. i felt like i had to look up to this guy so i asked him the same question. he looked at me with a stern look and said the day you feel like you have this job all figured out is the day you are to old to drive. makes sense.

That's true. After I had been driving about two months (in the Chicago winter)
I was delivering to a dock off an alley. The snow wasn't that deep but I didn't know there was ice under it. The tractor got stuck due to the ice. I tried shoveling,salt, boards,rocking it, etc... everything. Another truck pulled up and he couldn't get into the dock because my trailer partially blocked it.
Well this old time driver gets out shaking his head and says "How long you been driving, your new ain't you." If you need me to let me up in there and I'll show you how it's done". He says you got to rock it. I sat there and watched him do everything I had just done for over a half hour and he couldn't budge it. When he stepped down from the cab I simply looked at him and said "how long you been driving?"

How long does it take?
Are we talking about the driving aspect, or getting our company's system down?

I learned this company in about a month. Then they threw a wrench in and gave me a new dispatcher. When I say new, that's exactly it. He was confused and blundering. I had learned his ways within a week. His way was simple. He didn't have one. After 2 months he is still confused.
---now I have a dispatcher that has been with the company 15 years--

If we're talking about the driving aspect, that took about 4 months. There is a learning curve with that. Some people don't know to:

• Keep a safe following distance.
• Keep your trailer in your lane.
• Don't drive tired.
• Offramps and curves can roll your truck.

There are many more. The next time you see a big truck 6 inches from the car in front of it, get on the CB and tell them you think it's wrong.
You'll likely get a response like "Buddy, I've been driving for 15 years, I KNOW what I'm doing."
Not true. If he really did he would maintain a safe distance. He has never really "learned".

500 consecutive actions qualify for an expert in anything. 500 miles in certain conditions. 500 back ups to dock. 500 blind side back ups to dock.

Anything else is a broken learning curve where you learn faster than most from scratch, if you've done something similar or a long time ago. That's why a good education course and listening to these trucking experts on this site is so valuable to me. I'd rather learn mistakes from listening to their observations than making the same mistakes myself.

I probably hit that mark at about a year. But, I consider my ability to read a map and remember landmarks, directions, etc etc in making my job easier. I also worked in a furniture factory for a couple of years, I learned how to handle bulky freight without all the effort someone without the experience would put out.

And that had nothing to do with actual driving ability.

A lot of this job and the level of comfort with it, comes from your past history.

I raced MX bikes for many years, I learned to read terrain quickly, and make quick decisions, aka situational awareness....again, nothing to do with driving a truck. But a skill that allows me a cushion of comfort.

Prior military...where I learn "Attention to detail" at all times.

I still feel the pinch of a "rookie" move from time to time. We all have them. But more often than not, mine are caused by closed roads or low under passes. And making a move to avoid them Thankfully, we have GPS availiable to us today. It saved my butt in Nashville last week When the I-40/I-65 split was closed. My bad, I had my radio turned off. Otherwise I would have known about it.

There's nothing like having a brain fart in New Jersey, and missing your ramp to get on the Interstate, then spotting the low underpass 3 blocks ahead, then having to make the decision on what happens next, with 50 cars on your ##$ .

Some people.... never reach a "comfortable level". It's the nature of being human. It varies from person to person.

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If NOT supporting Obama's Marxist point of view makes me a racist. Then....

I'm Proud to be a racist.