Isolation and depression on the road.

It helps to be a well rounded recluse before hand

 

spend your 34 hr resets in hotels getting wasted. Fargo, ND is a great spot. beer store, resturants, hotels, malls, all within walking distance of the Petro.

Serously though no clue. The post above me nailed it.

 

Very...Get out of the truck...take a walk, get away from things that directly relate to the industry.

 

Trucking is a broad term. I started out OTR and at times i was extremely depressed it was awful. Now im local and love it.

The only way a reasonably intelligent person copes with life on the road is to get properly compensated for it. Min. 100k per year to deal with all the bs out there on the road.

The money just isnt there and until companies raise their pay rates to reasonable levels it just isnt worth it to run 48 states.

 

As long as you recognize that it could be an issue you will be ok. Don't let a company make you feel tied to the truck is the main thing.

Park the truck, secure it to the best of your ability and go interact with the general population.

 

If you have a tendency to be homesick and "miss" friends and family, OTR probably isn't for you.

 

Honestly to be successful at OTR I believe you have to be a bit introverted. If you don't prefer your own company most of the time and are very extroverted then don't go over the road because you will end up hating it very very quickly. I'm more introverted then extroverted and even I could only do 17 months of OTR before I quit. I'm local now and would never go back over the road. I would get out of trucking completely before going OTR again. I'm not trying to scare you here I'm just being honest with you.