Dealing with Anger while doing this driving job?

You gotta get out of the truck. You can’t let stuff get to you like that. Everybody gets angry from time to time. There’s no way to escape it if you’re a truck driver. I went by a guy today kept swerving off onto the shoulder and upper head was a family and a minivan broke down, and he almost hit them. As I came up beside him, going up the hill and was ready to pass. He came way over into my lane. As I caught up to him and looked over to my right. He had his feet up on the dash and was staring down at the cell phone, completely oblivious to anything around him didn’t even know I was beside him. I felt the rage. He got 30 seconds of air horn. But I felt it was justified because he was literally going to kill someone. I see this almost every day out there that exact scenario. His truck and trailer were an absolute piece of junk too.

it took me twenty minutes to not feel angry. But I realized he was winning if I let it eat at me. If you’re getting worked up enough to where you’re starting to tailgate people and stuff like that, you might want to think about taking a break from it. Because something bad might happen.

 

As far as the specific issue of following distance and anger...a professional driver must accept that they will be passed by four wheelers on the right. Yes it is infuriating, but tightning up to the vehicle in front of you to prevent that pesky 4-wheeler from passing on the right is unprofessional.

 

Following too closely? You need to learn to isolate yourself on the highways. In other words, if everyone is driving in a cluster at 65, set your cruise to 60 for a period of time. You gotta get out of the hurry up and wait mindframe. The flow of traffic isn't about keeping up with everyone, but keeping an appropriate speed in which there is adequate following distance.

Just because a speed limit sign says 65, doesn't mean you can actually go 65. It may be too much congestion to achieve that.

Just because you're governed at 68, doesn't mean you'll be able to sustain it for your whole 11.

 

Like customer service?

 

Does customer service mean that the customer is always right? All of us know that is not true.

And the OP's problem with anger has nothing to do with customer service.
It stems from a basic attitude of entitlement... An attitude that was beat out of most kids by the age of 5 or 8, back in the day.
An attitude that the world (universe... God...) owes you something simply because you are alive.
An attitude that what you need or want is more important than the needs and wants of others.

Getting mad and acting aggressively just because things are not going just your own way.
All the while... just reacting to whatever happens in the moment instead of controlling your situation from the beginning.

 

I take my rage out on lime green kia souls.

 

Paxil, PAXIL, if you're losing your #### take a Pax-il, Paxil, PAXIL, it'll make you mute to all the hassle.

 

1. Own it. Don’t blame the summer heat, traffic, or the truck cattle prods. You have a problem. If you own it, you change it.
2. Silence. No music, no podcasts, no phone calls.
3. Breathe like you are channeling your inner Darth Vader. If you’re not used to silence, focusing on your breathing should be difficult. Your mind should start to drift…who was the last person you know by name that could push your buttons? You do know that having buttons to push means that you can be controlled. People you don’t know, people in traffic, idiots…can control you, and will control you as long as you have buttons to push. Embarrassing when you really think about it.

So while you are sitting in silence, let’s develop a game plan to keep a cool head. First step is identifying what starts you to lose your cool.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^This^^^^^^^^^^^

 

I completely agree that trucking might not be for you but before you give up talk to your doctor. You might just need some anxiety medication. I was on it years ago. It took the edge off. I wasn't taking it for anger issues but it does help anger issues. It can mellow you out a little bit.